The Union will organise and run five, 10-week touch leagues at venues around Wales from May to July, with ‘Try Touch’ events being held in March and April for individuals, families and groups to turn up and try the game before signing up to a league, or for signed up teams to get some practice in before the leagues kick off.
There will be regional finals, and the best teams from each venue will have the chance to compete at the Millennium Stadium in a national finals day.
WRU Head of Rugby Josh Lewsey said: “The Welsh Rugby Union acknowledges the need to adapt and widen the forms of the game on offer to the Welsh public, especially at a time when changing lifestyles, work patterns, family structures and additional distractions all provide considerable challenges when trying to increase and maintain the number of players participating in traditional rugby in Wales.
“Touch and other alternative forms of the game are key to our rugby strategy moving forward in allowing as many players as possible from as many different sections of society to benefit from the team spirit and camaraderie that comes with being part of a rugby team.
“Touch is a fantastic way of keeping fit; anyone can play it, it’s fun and it certainly hones key rugby skills as proven by the fact that all our national squads use touch and forms of touch on a regular basis as part of their conditioning and skills programmes.
“Touch is perfect for groups of families, friends, colleagues and sports teams so we would really encourage everyone to turn up at a Try Touch event and give it a go.
“We hope that 1000-1500 players can participate in WRU Touch this year, and we hope to grow the concept year on year with additional teams and venues.”
Ben Rose, WRU regional development manager and WRU Touch organiser added: “Touch rugby has numerous benefits. It is a minimal contact, 6-a-side game which emphasises running, agility, passing, catching and communication so it has great advantages for improving fitness levels and skills, but it is also more inclusive than the 15-a-side game.
“It is one of the few team sports where men and women can compete on teams together, not only socially but on an international level too, and because of the less time-consuming nature of touch, the smaller player numbers required per team, and variety of opportunities to play (for example midweek evenings), it is accessible to so many more people than traditional rugby, especially during the summer months.”
WRU Touch – the facts:
• The Welsh Rugby Union will run five WRU Touch leagues in year one in Cardiff, Swansea, Ammanford, Colwyn Bay and Newport
• The leagues will run for ten weeks from early May to late July, culminating in a regional finals night at each venue. The top teams from each league will be invited to the Millennium Stadium for a national finals day.
• Each venue will be running Try Touch events where individual players and groups can literally turn up and have a go
• Teams are urged to go to wrutouch.co.uk now for more info, to register their interest for WRU Touch and for all Try Touch dates around Wales.
• Players of all ages from 14, all abilities, men and women are encouraged to get involved and have a go.
