Beach Rugby Tournament
August 19th, 2007 - Chris Marshall
Yesterday we spent the afternoon down on the beach watching the rugby, and last night I spent far too long drinking and undoing all the good work I have achieved recently with my running! I am not looking forward to tomorrow at all, and today has been somewhat sluggish, so I have no idea how the boys that played rugby will be feeling.
To play rugby on the beach in the middle of August is madness – but then again they are rugby players so what else would you expect?
The organisation this year was much better with two pitches, a tented area for the players, a grandstand for the supporters and a more than adequate PA system and choice of music.
Unlike previous years there were no refreshments within the actual event, so beer and food had to be obtained from one of the beach bars. Not really a problem but personally I think it would be much better if they could be obtained within the event. On a similar vein, it was a long day and in-between the games there wasn’t much to do, so again in a perfect world that could be improved.
I have no idea who won, which is really bad as I was actually at the presentation in the evening and attended the excellent BBQ provided for the players, but I do know that the commitment was exceptional from all the players. Burnley seemed harshly treated in their semi-final by some strange decisions by the referee not least when he sent off one of their team for standing still and being hit twice! But that’s rugby and all was OK at the end of the game.
As ever it was good to bump into a number of friends, and of course catching up with Kev and Angie (who used to live here but went back home to Burnley) was great. It was a shame that there weren’t more spectators as it really was a very enjoyable and well organised day.
As for last night – I had a great time with the El Ejido and Burnley rugby boys, but I really am going to pay for it this week running I think!
If you are here next year try and get down to watch – you will enjoy it.
More Pictures and don’t forget to check out the video
