A Taste of Touch Rugby at Twickenham

At the beginning of May, a group of Year 12 sports scholars were given a fantastic opportunity: the chance to travel to Twickenham, practise touch rugby on the pitch and even meet famous sportsmen. Henry Birdsey, Ross Johnstone, Miles Bridgman and Hassan Rubbani, who all play for the 1st XV rugby team, were delighted to have the opportunity to expand their knowledge of touch rugby and the ways in which this can be implemented within schools. Head of Rugby Mr Sam Beckett accompanied the pupils.

Touch rugby provides a fantastic way for pupils to get involved with rugby, without the pressure of participating in a contact sport. Currently, a lot of young sportsmen, keen on getting into rugby, start by playing touch. A good introduction into the sport, touch rugby has become a popular choice in its own right. The Shiplake group headed to meet with O2 Touch, an arm of the Rugby Football Union, who are creating a variety of schemes to increase the popularity of touch rugby in schools. Shiplake are at the forefront of this venture, being one of only 12 schools who are piloting the scheme, and so Mr Beckett organised the trip to Twickenham in order that the Year 12 sports scholars could learn ways for touch rugby to be implemented in schools. Not only does touch rugby provide an understanding of the rules of the sport, it is also a great way for pupils to play without the risk of injury. Pupils can also play touch rugby all year around, making it the ideal addition to the sporting calendar in schools.

Once the pupils had learnt a range of different games that could be played with younger years, they experienced playing the sport on the world-famous pitch at Twickenham, before a tour of the grounds and changing rooms. The sports scholars then enjoyed a question and answer session with international rugby sevens players Phil Burgess, and Dan Norton. The boys have several ideas on how to increase the momentum of touch rugby within Shiplake; they plan to organise a Junior House tournament, so that every pupil can get involved with the sport. There will also be a Senior House tournament, and each team will have at least one girl playing in it; the inclusivity of the sport is another great bonus for the school.

The day proved highly informative and fascinating. Sports scholar Ross Johnstone commented that ‘we really grateful to Mr Beckett for arranging such a fantastic day. We’re looking forward to helping touch rugby become a bigger sport, developing skills and getting more people involved will be a great task for us.”