1:00pm Monday 5th July 2010
CHILDREN from two north Hampshire schools are preparing to travel to Rugby School for the national finals of tag rugby tournaments.
Dove House School, in Oakridge, has reached the National Inclusion Tag Rugby Finals, while Oakley Church of England Junior School have secured a place at the Tag 2 Twickenham finals.
Both events take place at Rugby School, in Warwickshire, this week, with Dove House in action tomorrow and Oakley competing for a chance to play at Twickenham the following day.
Pupils at Dove House, a secondary school for youngsters with moderate learning difficulties, have only been playing tag rugby, which uses rip-off tags around the midriff of players to replace tackling, for two years.
However, they won the Southern England Inclusion competition at Basingstoke RFC’s Down Grange ground, remaining unbeaten in four games to qualify for the national finals.
Sports master Dave North said: “The team is growing in confidence and have looked good but we’re going for a good day out really and to enjoy an experience they would not have otherwise had.
“They’ve been a great bunch to work with. I’m retiring at the end of this term and this will be a nice way to finish.”
Oakley Church of England Junior School reached the national finals after finishing as runners-up at the South RFU YAZOO Regional Tag Rugby Festival, which also took place at Down Grange.
They beat off tough competition to reach the final, where they were beaten by Churchend Primary School, in Tilehurst, Reading.
However, both finalists go through, meaning that Oakley still have a chance of winning the national title, with the winners and runners-up at Rugby getting the chance to play against each other at Twickenham during the half-time interval of one of the Autumn Internationals.
A total of 20 teams from the region took part in the festival at Down Grange, with England women prop forward Claire Purdy on hand to watch.
“It was a great day and, along with the kids, we all had a lot of fun,” she said. “There were some potential stars of the future there so I’ll definitely be keeping an eye out for them.”
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