JERSEY Touch teams take on Australia and Germany on Thursday evening in warm-up matches ahead of the weekend’s events, the European and the Rest of the World championships.
With around 480 players coming to the Island - 80 of them from Australia where the sport is huge - from 12 countries and with a total of 32 teams, this will be one of the biggest sporting events, outside the Island Games, that Jersey will have hosted.
Touch began in Jersey seven years ago, brought to the Island by the chairman of the Jersey Touch Association, Cliff Chipperfield.
Quality players emerged quickly and, in 1999, five of them were among the England team which competed in the World Championships in South Africa that year.
The following year Jersey entered their first competition at the National Championships and, two weeks later, a Jersey squad competed in the European Championships in Edinburgh - and to the surprise of many, including themselves, they won the mixed title.
Following that success the sport grew rapidly in popularity and the standard of the Jersey league continued to improve.
It was in 2002, at the European Championships in Cardiff, where the mixed side retained their title although the nen’s and ladies’ teams narrowly missed reaching the final stages, that Jersey offered to host the 2004 event.
‘After the mixed team had done so well we felt it would be a great opportunity to host the Europeans here,’ Mark White, Jersey’s rugby development officer and ladies’ touch team coach said.
‘Players are arriving in the Island over the next few days and most of them will be staying in hotels, some will be at Haut de la Garenne and some will be camping.
And it all gets under way on Saturday morning at the Rugby Club.’ All the matches will be played at St Peter, on the Rugby Club pitches, and the Touch Association has been offered the use of Jersey Wanderers’ pitch too, which will be marked out for touch by the weekend.
‘Everyone plays everyone,’ White explained, ‘with the match scores between European countries counting towards the European competition, and matches played between European and non-European countries - among them Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa - counting towards the Rest of the World competition.’ Having these top-class competitions in Jersey is, White believes, confirmation that Jersey has come of age in the world of touch.
‘It’s massive, and it means that Jersey is now recognised as a touch nation in its own right.’ Tomorrow’s warm-up games will feature the Jersey men’s and ladies’ teams against the German men’s and ladies’ sides.
European Champions Jersey Mixed oppose a mixed team from Australia.
Matches are at the Rugby Club and start at 7 pm.
Article posted on 7th July, 2004 - 12.00am
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