July has seen an array of Social & Inclusion Rugby League activity on display – Try Tag Rugby, X-League and the Foundation Touch Series all held hugely successful events once again.
Tag Rugby League history was made, as 108 teams descended on King's House Sports Ground, Chiswick for TagFest London 2022 – It was the largest, single-venue, Tag Rugby tournament ever to be staged in the northern hemisphere.
While the bulk of the teams were London based, including the Turtles team who won the top prize for an unprecedented fifth consecutive year, there were also teams from Try Tag Rugby's Yorkshire, Thames Valley and Edinburgh North regions.
Try Tag Rugby players from Bristol, Coventry, Manchester and Wigan also joined a festival of Tag Rugby that had an international flavour with the addition of teams from Ireland and France. With over 1,200 players across four divisions that each played through Cup, Plate, Bowl and Shield competitions it was a truly unmissable day in the growth of Try Tag Rugby in the UK.
Tournament Director, Will Shepherd, said "It's brilliant to see Try Tag Rugby taking steps forward with every iteration of our flagship tournament. Once again we've set a new record for the number of teams taking part, while the players are responsible for the standard of Tag growing year on year.
“The extra time final between Turtles and Cuzzies was played to a capacity crowd that cheered on every tag, kick and try before getting stuck into the afterparty with the same level of enthusiasm! To have such perfect weather to cap it all off was a bonus."
Try Tag Rugby player Joel Watson also reflected on a memorable day: “Our team has been playing Try Tag Rugby tournaments for about four years and Tagfest is always the highlight of the tag calendar.
“Because there’s so many teams, you never know what you’re going to get from the players lined up opposite you and the knockout format means all the games are high pressure and exciting.”
With more Try Tag Rugby events on the horizon, you can now sign up and play via the following links:
Saturday 30th July, TagFest Oxford: https://trytagrugby.com/event/tagfest-oxford-2022/
Saturday 20th August, TagFest Yorkshire in Leeds: https://trytagrugby.com/event/tagfest-yorkshire-2022/
Saturday 24th September, Manchester Autumn Tournament and SL Grand Final: https://trytagrugby.com/event/autumn-tag-rugby-tournament-manchester-2022/
The latest round of the X-League Grand Prix also took place over this month at Hollinwood ARLFC of Oldham, the Owls of Oldham X-League team stepped in at a moment's notice to host a successful event, drenched in sunshine after last-minute rescheduling was needed from the planned venue in Scarborough.
The games were played in great spirits and high temperatures, with St. Annes running out winners (10 Points), and Oldham Owls winning team of the tournament (10 Points), and James Bell of the Owls scoring the try of the tournament (5 Points). St. Annes Danny Moran picked up the player of the tournament award.
Oldham Owls’ Ricky Roberts reflected on an enthralling day of X-League: “A great day of Social Rugby League at its best. We certainly got the weather, and every game was played fairly in the spirit of X-League, the social side was well taken care of with drinks, food and hospitality, all provided for teams that turned out!
“We owe a great deal of gratitude to Hollinwood ARLFC for the use of the facilities and the Crown Pub for hosting us after the tournament.”
Paul Flannery of Warrington Warriors was also full of praise: “It was a fantastic event, and all the players appreciated the hospitality shown by Oldham X-League at such short notice.
“Games were played in a good spirit – a highlight for us was the final game, which involved players from all teams mixed together, providing a great laugh! Here’s to many more events.”
After four events, Oldham X-League sit on top of the table and are on course to be crowned as the inaugural X-League Grand Prix winners, closely followed by Oldham St. Annes. Here’s how the table looks as we head into the final two events:
- Oldham X-League, 55 pts
- Oldham St. Annes, 45 pts
- Warrington X-League, 35 pts
- Saddleworth Rangers, 30 pts
- KTRA X-League, 25 pts
- Scotland Highlanders, 20 pts
- Scarborough Pirates, 0 pts
The Foundation Touch Series also returned this month with another successful event. Over thirty participants took to the pitch at West Park Rugby Club in Leeds for a great day of Touch Rugby League, as teams from Yorkshire Thorns/Leeds Rhinos and Wigan Warriors all took part.
Leeds Rhinos’ Darren Higgins, who organised the event, said: “It was a fantastic morning, played in a great spirit with both teams coming together to ensure players not only enjoyed the activity, but all players regardless of ability were able to take something away from the event from a player development perspective – a great day for all involved!”
