Covent Garden is synonymous for its market,
entertainers and being the home of the Royal Opera House, it is not normally
known for its rugby. However for 2 days last week that all changed as the
inaugural London Beach Rugby Tournament came to town. Across the 2 days 32
teams competed for the honour of being crowned London Beach Rugby
Champions, the tournament was held in aid of the rugby charity Restart.
Restart and the work that it does to help build players’ lives after career
ending injuries is becoming increasingly important as intensity of the game
builds and any awareness and support is extremely welcome.
Friday was the Corporate Day, the day where the City
Slickers replaced their suits for rugby kit and enjoyed the chance to throw
themselves about, in the sand as opposed to across the trading floor, and have a legtimiate day off, all in the
name of charity. On Saturday it was the turn of the invitational club teams to
show their skills, needless to say Saturday’s quality of rugby, and kits, did slightly
eclipse their corporate counterparts!
The rules of the Beach Rugby were simple, 5 players,
3 touches = turnover ball, lots of sand and inflatable sides to ensure the
Ashton splashes were thrown about left right and centre.
Arriving on Saturday afternoon it was clear that the
beach vibes were being embraced, there were flip flops galore and shirtless
rugby men everywhere, ladies it really was full of visual treats! On the pitch
the teams were fiercely competitive with some intense games and quality beach rugby
being played. The tournament attracted its fair share of household names
including Alex Goode, Charlie Walker and Charlie Matthews all
keen to support Restart and enjoy some of the sunshine and rugby. The Doom Bar
was in full flow all day supplying the hundreds of spectators and players with
ale samples all day! Beach Rugby is thirsty work and the nature of the inflatable
sides of the pitch meant that there were Ashton’esque dives left, right and
centre as well as many players ending ‘overboard’ much to the hilarity of their
teammates and all of the spectators.
It was the invitational
side Stash France who finished the day on top, playing in the final against Bruichladdich Bandits in a
fast paced encounter… the match, preceded by the national anthems, was a
fantastic way to top an epic two days of Beach Rugby. Covent Garden was
restored to its usual state by 9pm on Saturday evening, with not a trace of
sand in sight. As I said before Restart is a fantastic charity, one that can
never be given enough support, therefore anything that helps to raise its
profile and finances is fantastic. Such was the success of this tournament I
know that plans are in place to take the Beach on the road and certainly to be
back in Covent Garden next year.
View here to see more Restart events: http://restartrugby.org.uk/events/ Personally I am quite excited by the Rugby World Cup 10th
Anniversary Dinner and the
England vs. Australia Legends Game at the Stoop.
