Rugby Club members representing country at European championships

The five-day tournament has been organised by the Federation of International Touch

Two members of Banbury Rugby Club are set to represent their club and country this week, facing teams from across Europe in Touch Rugby’s European championships.

Claire Davis and Ben Blackburn both play Touch for Banbury’s Saxons team.   They are heading to the championships in Nottingham. The five-day tournament will see the best of Europe coming together to battle for the top spot and European gold.

Ben Blackburn said: “This is a huge tournament with hundreds of players, coaches and support staff getting together after years of having covid put back our plans! We’ve been training really hard and final prep has been going well. It’s just time to get the kit packed and try not to be too nervous!”

The event is organised by the Federation of International Touch (FIT) – the governing body for the sport of Touch Rugby.  The first European Championships were held in Halifax in 1996.   Since then the number of European teams entering has increased with this year’s event the largest regional FIT event in the world.

Touch Rugby is a game derived from rugby football in which the players do not tackle each other but instead touch their opponents.  Touch has become very popular and now exists as a sport in its own right.

Ben added: “Touch has really grown at Banbury but we’re always looking for more players to come down on a Tuesday evening, throw the ball around and get stuck in to a fast, fun and inclusive sport. We’ve had some fantastic national tournaments hosted at Banbury too and we’re fast becoming a core hub for everything Touch Rugby in England.”

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Published: 03/08/2022 09:13am by Banbury FM Newsteam

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