After five years and two postponements, the fourth iteration of the ITF Tag World Cup is finally here!
The 2023 tournament is the first to take place in the northern hemisphere with only Australia and New Zealand having preceded Ireland as hosts. The tournament is taking place within the University of Limerick from August 1-5 and you can keep up with daily Team GB updates below.
Tuesday August 1
The Mixed Open squad opened Team GB’s tournament in an evening fixture against South Africa, and what a game they had!
Whilst the rain was pouring down in Limerick, the side took the bad weather in their stride and earnt their first World Cup victory after defeating their opponents 11-5.
Team GB Mixed Open Captain, Rich Milford, says:
“The win felt great – there were a few nerves early doors, but it went really well and it was great to hear support from fans around the ground.”
More reaction from this fixture can be found on the Great Britain Tag Rugby Facebook page and a full list of Team GB’s Tag World Cup fixtures can be found here.
The following games on Wednesday August 3 will be streamed live via the ITRA YouTube channel.
- Men’s 40’s v France – 11am
- Women’s 35’s v France – 2pm
- Mixed Seniors v South Africa – 5pm
Wednesday August 3
Wednesday was an action-packed day for Great Britain with all eight teams competing in a total of 16 games and Team GB celebrated 14 wins!
The Men’s 40s are playing in the World Cup for the very first time and got their campaign off to winning ways against France (14-1) and Alliance Rebels (5-0.) The Men’s 30s had a busy yet successful schedule with three wins against Hong King (14-1), New Zealand Exiles (3-2) and Ireland Exiles (6-5.) Finally, the Men’s Open lost their opener against Lebanon (5-7) before bouncing back against Australia Indigenous (13-1.)
Much like their male counterparts, the Women’s 35s are new to this year’s World Cup and began their hunt to silverware in blistering form after a 18-0 win against France. The Women’s 30s had an equally impressive start with victories against Australian Indigenous (25-0) and Ireland (9-0.) Women’s Open played three games across the day and began their tournament with a win against Australia Indigenous (13-3) before a tight match against Ireland which ended three points a piece and in their final game, they defeated the GB Exiles (6-0.)
The Mixed Open side returned to play after their opening game on Tuesday and maintained their 100% record in the competition so far with defeats of South Africa (11-5) and Japan (24-0.) The Mixed Seniors were also victorious against South Africa and enjoyed a 7-3 win against the Southern Hemisphere nation.
More reaction including exclusive interviews and post-match analysis from Wednesday’s games can be found here and a full list of Team GB’s Tag World Cup fixtures can be found here.
The following games on Thursday August 4 will be streamed live via the ITRA YouTube channel.
- Men’s Open v Italy – 1pm, Pitch 1
- Men’s 30s v GB Exiles – 2pm, Pitch 2
- Women’s Open v Vietnam – 3pm, Pitch 1
Thursday August 4
Day three of the Tag World Cup got underway on Thursday with the competition really starting to heat up as we begin to edge closer to the knockouts.
The Women’s 35s started their day against Australia and despite a brilliant effort the side recorded their first loss of the tournament (3-8) and they went onto draw against rivals Ireland later in the day (2-2.) Women’s 30s had a fantastic day – they were the first ever GB team to beat Australia (4-3) and they continued their unbeaten run with victory against Australia Indigenous (13-2.) Women’s Open also had an unbeaten day with defeats of Vietnam (12-1) and Irish Exiles (4-0.)
The Men’s category saw a total of eight games played on day three - Men’s 40s picked up wins against Lebanon (8-7), Hong Kong China (27-0) and Alliance Barbarians (5-2.) The Men’s 30s collected three wins with their defeats of Great Britain Exiles (5-4), United States (6-2) and France (18-0.) Men’s Open also went unbeaten on Thursday with their fixtures against Italy (15-2) and Ireland (5-1) both comfortable victories.
Mixed seniors opened their second round of World Cup fixtures with a draw against Alliance (5-5) before they pulled off two stunning victories against rivals New Zealand (8-4) and Australia (2-1.) Mixed Open then went on to defeat France Barbarians (31-0) before just coming short against New Zealand in Pool B (2-3) and they faced their Kiwi rivals again in the first Super Six game of the tournament and suffered another narrow defeat (6-8.)
More reaction including exclusive interviews and post-match analysis from Wednesday’s games can be found here and a full list of Team GB’s Tag World Cup fixtures can be found here.
The following games on Friday August 4 will be streamed live via the ITRA YouTube channel.
- Women’s 30s v Ireland – 10am, Pitch 2
- Mixed Open v South Africa – 1pm, Pitch 2
- Women’s 35s Knockouts – 3pm, Pitch 1
- Mixed Open v Ireland – 4pm, Pitch 1
Friday August 4
All eight GB teams were in action on Friday with every squad progressing to the next stages of the competition!
The Men’s 40s suffered their first defeats of the tournament when they faced Australia (1-9) and Ireland (3-4) with the Men’s 30’s also failing to beat Australia (2-11) and Ireland (3-7.)
Men’s Open played a tense Grading Final against Lebanon which ended 5 a piece with Nick Wilkes scoring the winning try in overtime to take the side to the quarter finals. But the drama continued with Lebanon contesting the final score, which was eventually overturned, and the opposition went into the next round as the highest seed. Whilst they’d had an emotional roller coaster in the previous game, Men’s Open were back to their best when they faced New Zealand Exiles as they progressed to the semi-finals (7-3.)
The Mixed teams had already begun their knockout stages the previous day and the Mixed Open got off to winning ways with defeats of Italy (7-4) and South Africa (10-8) before an extremely narrow loss to Ireland (4-5) in the Super 6. Mixed Seniors are having an incredible competition so far – they started the day with a convincing win against New Zealand (19-6) before another tight fixture against Ireland (3-5) which resulted in their first loss in the World Cup.
The Women’s Open started Friday by beating New Zealand Exiles (6-2) before going 4-0 up against Australia in their next fixture, but the Southern Hemisphere side put up an incredible fight back and Team GB eventually lost for the first time (4-5.) Women’s 30s defeated Ireland (4-1) but lost their second fixture against Australia (3-1.) Despite that defeat, earlier results mean the Women’s 30’s team finish top of their category and become the first Great Britain team to secure their place in a final and a chance to win gold on Saturday. Women’s 35s have continued their impressive form with a victory against Alliance (7-0) in their final Pool game before an extremely tight semi-final against Ireland which ended 2 all at the end of regular time, before the hosts scored in overtime to progress to the final. The Women’s 35s will now play for a Bronze medal on Saturday.
Whilst the day had mixed results, every GB team has progressed to the semi-finals or equivalent with all teams having a chance to win a medal . Whatever the results Great Britain Tag Rugby is therefore now set for a historic day on Saturday.
More reaction including exclusive interviews and post-match analysis from Thursday’s games can be found here. Fixtures and results for the final day of the World Cup can be found here.
The following games on Saturday August 5 involve Team GB.
- Women’s 35s v Ireland – Bronze Medal decider
- Mixed Open v Australia – Super 6 before likely facing Ireland for a bronze medal.
- Mixed Seniors v Ireland – Semi-Final
- Men’s 40s v Ireland – Semi-Final
- Men’s 30s v Australia – Semi-Final
- Men’s Open v Australia – Semi-Final
- Men’s Open v Australia – Semi-Final
- Women’s Open v New Zealand Exiles - Semi-Final
- Women’s 30s v Australia – Final (streamed live from Pitch 2, 2pm)
Saturday August 5
Saturday saw the 2023 Tag World Cup come to a close with Team GB heading home with a haul of six medals, including their first ever gold.
After placing third four years ago, the Women’s 30s went even better in 2023 and have been crowned World Champions after the side pulled off a stunning victory against Australia (5-1) in the Grand Final. The result makes the Women’s 30s the first ever GB team to win gold at a Tag World Cup and what a tournament they have had.
Captain, Phoebe Roberts, explains:
“It’s an absolutely unbelievable feeling, I played when Australia toured the UK in 2013 and they beat us about 40-0 - I’m not exaggerating that!
“To come here after the 2018 World Cup where we won bronze and now to back it up with a gold is incredible. I’m absolutely ecstatic.”
Head coach, Mark Roughsedge, says:
“In 2018 we were elated to win bronze, and the reality is that since then we have had about 50-60 players be part of where we are today, and as a team, we have talked about this win being far beyond the squad that got picked for the World Cup.
“I can’t put it into words how it feels. It’s been an outstanding journey and you can see how happy the girls are - I’m delighted for them.”
Team GB are also celebrating two silver medals with the Mixed Seniors and Women’s Open both placing second overall in their categories. Mixed Seniors had an incredible run in the competition but succumbed to Australia (4-11) in the Grand Final and the Women’s Open successfully overcame New Zealand Exiles in a thrilling semi-final (1-0) before also losing out to the Aussie’s (4-1.)
Three sides finished third in their categories - Women’s 35s were the first side to earn a bronze medal after their defeat of Alliance (3-0.) The Men’s 40 s were next to celebrate after they recorded an incredible victory over Alliance Barbarians (13-2) and Men’s Open won their medal after another tricky, yet outstanding defeat of Ireland (4-3.)
The Men’s 30s had a fantastic tournament going unbeaten until the start of day 5, but they lost their and started the day with an impressive victory semifinal against Australia (1-8) this morning before meeting New Zealand Exiles in the bronze medal decider – as expected the fixture was a tight encounter and the side gave it their all, but the fixture ended in defeat (2-5) and the side eventually placed fourth overall.
Mixed Open lost their Super 6 match to Australia (6-11) before another narrow and closely fought loss against Ireland (4-6) and like their Men’s 30s teammates, came fourth overall in the competition.
All of the reaction from Finals Day, including extended interviews with both Phoebe and Mark, can be found here and to re-watch any of Team GB’s streamed fixtures you can visit the ITRA YouTube channel.
