Blacks Elite debut at the Sue Ryder Wheatfields Touch Rugby Tournament

Friday 12 April 2013

Friday 5 April saw the first outing for the Blacks Touch Rugby Elite in the Sue Ryder Wheatfields  Touch Rugby Tournament. The team comprised Glen Salt, Geoff Cunningham, Tom Moyes, Andy Boyde, Nick Dyson, Dave Paterson and two of Dave’s ‘ringers’ Alex and Chris.

The game was played at Wellington Place – Leeds’ answer to London’s Square Mile. The event drew corporate teams from the city to lock horns on the hallowed turf (in real terms a rut filled wasteland).

Blacks Elite varied in both experience and ability but came together beautifully in the group stages of the competition. All three opposing teams were dispatched without a single try being conceded. Any hopes of the fair play award were scuppered at the outset as the officials on the day were the same referees that regularly ref Dave at South Leeds Stadium.

The surprise package of the afternoon came in the form of ‘wheels of fire’ Dyson, a relevant novice of the game, who ran down the field with the speed of Usain Bolt.

Glen Salt was not only rolling back the years with his appearances from the bench but also rolling ankles, as a subsequent trip to A&E revealed he will spend the next 4 weeks in plaster nursing a fractured ankle.

The Blacks Elite suffered heartache in the semi-finals as they lost to a ‘golden try’ following a stalemate in regulation time. If Blacks could have kept the final try out they would have progressed to the final on a countback as they lost to a team they had previously beaten in the group stages. The team were not overly disappointed as the time had now reached 5pm and the battled warriors were in need of serious refreshment. The Band of Brothers mulled over what could have been with a pint at Toast before going their separate ways.

Euan Lawrence and Nick Rhodes have been heard muttering that the team would have won if they had been playing, so watch this space for touch rugby glory in the future!