Bruff RFC Tag Rugby team competed at the International Tag Rugby Festival in England over the June Bank holiday weekend. Twenty teams from all over England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland as well as Fijian side travelled to Rochdale outside Manchester for the first event of its kind to be hosted by the RFL in the UK.
The Bruff touring squad consisted of club members as well as tag players and referees who were involved in our Spring League, in addition we were delighted to be joined by 2 friends from Wigan who were adopted Irish for the weekend! The team displayed some good tag rugby skills in the blazing sunshine, winning 3 of their 4 pool matches to qualify for the plate semi-final. Up against a tough Scotish side, Bruff were narrowly defeated 8-6 in the semis.
We were delighted to catch up with many Irish ex pats living in Manchester who came along on the Saturday afternoon to cheer us on, including Apryl O’Rourke and family.
What we lacked on the pitch we made up for on the dance floor and the locals didn’t know what hit them when the team arrived at the clubhouse on Saturday night, dressed Hawiain style beachwear!!
Thanks a million to all the squad who represented Bruff over the weekend!
Our hosts Rochdale Swarm tag rugby club showed us a fantastic time with a great line up of entertainment organised all evening. We plan to make this an annual trip. Rochdale Swarm are already planning a return visit to our “Bull n Booze” Tag Festival on 15th August and a Scottish and Welsh side have also expressed interest in travelling over. It promises to be the biggest and best festival yet, will places filling up very fast. If your team is up for the challenge, enter now by emailing brufftagrugby@gmail.com or call 087-9312817
Tag Team at International Tag Festival Rochdale UK
