Scotland's Touch Rugby squad challenge UK nations on home soil
Edinburgh hosts home nations touch rugby tournament on Saturday 4th June.
The growing popularity of touch rugby in Scotland will drive forward on 4th June as Edinburgh welcomes the national teams from England, Wales and Jersey to compete against the home nation in a European friendly.
The tournament is being held on Saturday June 4th at the Civil Service Sports Centre in Granton. The matches will take place between 10am and 4.30pm.
The teams last lined up against each other just under a year ago for the 2004 European Touch Championships in Jersey. The tournament, held in July, saw Jersey triumph in the mixed competition and England walk away with the men's and women's titles. Scotland took third place in each competition and their hopes are high for 2005 as player and coach David Short explained:
"For the first time in the history of touch rugby in Scotland we've had a structured development program which has been running every week since last September.
Trials for the Scotland squad took place in Edinburgh in March and we've been training hard since then so that we can challenge those nations that have been playing significantly longer than ourselves"
The game has grown significantly in Scotland over the last 10 years with leagues now running in Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Stirling and the borders. Scotland's national team director John White said:
"The popularity of the game can be explained by it being one of the few mixed team sports available. People are often initially drawn in socially and then take to it more seriously. "
This year has also seen the Scottish Touch Association (STA) established as the governing body of touch in Scotland; further evidence of the sport flourishing. The STA's main aim is to promote and develop touch in Scotland at all levels.
Commenting on the forthcoming tournament, Gordon McEwen, president of the STA who are organising the June tournament, said:
"We're very proud that the tournament is being held in Scotland as we have a fantastic base of really enthusiastic players. The main aim of this event is to bring touch playing nations within Europe closer together and to enjoy the social aspect of the game as well as the competitive element.
The 4th June will be an excellent build up for the players representing Scotland in the All Nations tournament in New Zealand in October this year. It will also give the people of Scotland a taste of the international touch events to come as Edinburgh will be hosting the European Championships in July 2006. "
For further information and pictures please contact:
Alison Flintham, Marketing Director
Scottish Touch Association
e-mail: info@scottishtouch.org.uk
Notes to Editors
- The Scottish Touch Association is a non profit making body.
- 12 teams are expected to compete in the tournament on June 4th.
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Forthcoming tournaments that Scotland will be represented at include:
- UK National Championships. September 10-11th. London, England.
- All Nations Tournament. October 26th - 29th 2005. Christchurch, New Zealand.
- European Touch Championships. July 21st - 23rd 2006. Edinburgh, Scotland.
- World Cup, January 2007. Stellenbosch, South Africa.
- Touch rugby, also known as touch, began as a warm up game for rugby league and union teams as early as the 1960s. It was Sean Lineen, former Scotland grand slam winning centre, who brought the game from New Zealand where it was already popular, and established it as a separate sport in Scotland around 1995.
- Touch rugby is a minimal contact game played by teams of 6-a side with, usually, 4 or 6 substitutes. Teams may be male, female or mixed (usually 3 men & 3 women). The game emphasises the skills of running, agility, and passing and catching the ball. Although the title of the game contains the term rugby there is no tackling, lineouts, scrumming or kicking involved.
- The sport contains many rules but the main aim of the game is for each team to score tries and to prevent the opposition from scoring. Defending players prevent the attacking team from gaining territorial advantage by touching the ball carrier. The ball carrier must then place the ball between their legs for a member of their team to pick up and drive forward again. The attacking team must score a try within 6 touches or the ball will be passed over to the opposition. The ball is also passed over for other reasons including if it is dropped or passed forward.
- Touch has been claimed as the fifth most popular sport in Australia with over 1 million people taking part in the game from schools through to international standard. New Zealand and South Africa also boast a strong player base.