England Touch’s High Performance squad had four days to remember at the European Touch Championships last week, bringing home nine Golds and a Bronze from the 10 competition categories.
The tournament in Vichy, France was England’s first overseas trip since the 2019 Touch World Cup and they were seeking to retain the ranking of overall European champions, and in turn give themselves a springboard into the winter training programme which will build up to next year’s World Cup.
Seven of the teams went through their competitions with hundred percent records, including the Women’s 40, who completed their history-making tournament by winning the first Gold medal by beating Scotland 5-1. Danielle Powley-Williams got a pair of tries, with Gaynor Sewell, Hester Williams and Sally Seymour completing the scoring.
The Men’s 45 had their final against Wales, with England putting in a dominant performance. Tries from Niel Chambers (2), Lloyd Hook (2), Andre Le Cornu and skipper Erik Williams, meant they had Gold medals to add to the Simon Yarrow Memorial Trophy won earlier in the week against Scotland.
A year ago the Men’s 40 had had disappointment from their final defeat against France. But this time around there was a comprehensive win to take away from the clash with the host nation. Hat tricks from Daniel Connolly and Ben Blackburn led the way, Ollie Sills, Will Tenbroeke and Dan Lewis the other try scorers.
The Masters division was rounded off by the Men’s 50 team, who beat France and Wales a combined eight times in their tri series and finals to lift the title.
In the Seniors division there was plenty of satisfaction for the Mixed 30, who had had what would have been a win over France turned into a draw with a late controversial decision. There was no such debate in the final, however, as France were put to the sword at the end of a competition which had twice the number of teams as 2022. Meghan Clayton crossed four times, Wigan team mate Sean Macdonald scored twice, and Akshan Jirasinha, Ryan Miemczyk, Clark Hobson, Jack Judd, Andrew Smerdon and Victoria Franks all scored a try each in the 12-6 final result.
The Women’s 27 continued to be the team to beat in Europe, as they took the momentum from their +37 try difference from the round robin to see off Scotland in the final.
The Men’s 30 team had an equally imperious round robin, scoring 103 tries from their seven matches and ending with a try difference of +87. However, the final against France was a much tighter affair, 6-4 the final result.
The Mixed Open team had to settle for Bronze at the end of a roller coaster few days. Unbeaten in the initial round robin, the team lost to Ireland by two points and drew with France and Wales to miss out on the Gold medal match. However, they exacted revenge against the Irish in the Bronze medal match running up a 14-4 final result.
The Women’s Open had an Anglo-French clash for the final, scoring early to create a healthy lead and extending their run of consecutive titles to nine. Carly Wynne crossed three times against the French, Emily Irons and Sophia Barkham both scored twice, and Nikki Wise, Kensie Macnaught and Erin Payten rounded off the 10-4 win.
Finally, the Men’s Open competition had plenty of similarities with 2022. Once again England and Ireland led the way, pushed by France and Scotland to have to play their best. The Anglo-Irish clashes in the pool stages were very tight, but the final was much more one-way. Hanno Rossouw scored four times, Matthew Bate and Matt Sandlant both crossed twice, and Louis Treays and Marcus Chung rounded off a 10-3 win.
England Touch Association CEO, Chris Simon, says:
“We’re delighted with the results from this year’s Euros, coming hot on the heels of the youth teams’ successes in the Atlantic Youth Cup.
“To win nine out of the 10 categories shows that we’re in a very promising place going towards next year’s home World Cup in Nottingham.
“Massive thanks and praise to Ben Powell, our high performance director, Sammie Phillips, our head of elite coaching, and all of the 50-plus coaches and support staff who volunteered their time to help our 208 amateur players achieve so much.”
