Welwyn RFC 10-a-Side Tournament

Welwyn RFC has got its 75th Anniversary season off to a winning start. The squad of Dave Orton (Captain), Luke Williams, Peter Elliott, Jonathan Childs, Tom Jankowski, Louis Richards, James Powell, Yourgos Alexander, Leon Tyler, Rob Picken, Jacques Naude, Neil Smith, Steve Gardner, Mark Cullen and Gareth Hughes used their mix of youth and experience to win the third Welwyn 10-a-side competition on Saturday 19th August 2006. Nine teams competed for the Cup on a day that managed to avoid the threatened rain storms. Also entered into the competition were teams from Barnet Elizabethans (who won the tournament last year), Mill Hill (last year’s Plate winners), Fullerians, Hertford, Stockwood Park, Beerandrugby.com Barbarians, Hampstead and St Albans. Three pools of three teams competed for a place in the pools to challenge for the Cup, Plate and Shield. The three teams who made it through to compete for the cup were Barnet Elizabethans, Mill Hill and Welwyn. The Shield was contested by Hertford, St Albans and Fullerians, with the Plate teams being Beerandrugby.com, Hampstead and Stockwood Park. Hertford won the Plate and Beerandrugby.com Barbarians won the Shield. Hertfordshire Society of Referees again provided the officials for the day.

Welwyn looked fit and played well as a team, with the supporting play some of the best on show. Coach, Peter Engledow, who was unfortunately not able to be at the tournament due to family matters, has worked the squad hard during the summer and Welwyn’s superior fitness told. They only conceded two tries in the whole competition and still looked fresh at the end. With a lot of good, young players in the squad, the 75th Anniversary season should be an exciting and successful one for the club, who are aiming to get promotion to London North 2. Welwyn has three mid-week warm up games before starting their league campaign at home against Haringey on 9th September.

This was Welwyn’s second 10-a-side tournament this year, having competed in the Stockholm 10-a-side tournament at the end of July. The Stockholm 10s is the biggest 10-a-side tournament in the world, with 48 teams competing in a number of different categories. Welwyn were unfortunate to meet the eventual runners up in the first round of the competition but gave a good account of themselves and were only narrowly beaten. They competed in the Plate competition on the Sunday but were unable to bring any silverware back to England.

Welwyn 10-a-Side picture

Welwyn 10-a-Side Squad