Beach rugby day is scrum-thing special

The annual Chichester Rugby Club beach rugby festival was held at West Wittering beach on one of the hottest days of the year.
By The Newsroom
Published 25th Jun 2017, 15:00 BST
Updated 8th Jun 2018, 03:13 BST

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West Wittering beach made for the perfect setting for some fast-paced action / Picture by Derek MartinWest Wittering beach made for the perfect setting for some fast-paced action / Picture by Derek Martin
West Wittering beach made for the perfect setting for some fast-paced action / Picture by Derek Martin

The event was in honour of Mary Phillips, one of the club’s greatest members, supporters and helpers who died earlier in the year.

The Phillips family entered two teams and all money raised went to Love your Hospital (Stroke Unit, Lavant Ward, St Richard’s Hospital) and Brain Tumour Research.

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This year teams from across East and West Sussex, Hampshire, Middlesex, Berkshire, Wiltshire attended.

The weather was wonderful, with lots of sun-cream needed and time in the sea to cool off. Spectators and families were subjected to a very entertaining event.

Jessica Breach, an England under-20 and Harlequins player who lives locally, entered a Barbarian team made up of players and coaches from other teams.

The event allows for mixed teams, young and old, to play against each other, with brothers playing for opposing teams, and many of the adult teams came unstuck when playing juniors.

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The festival is structured so that the teams play in pools with the top two at the end of the pool progressing on to the cup competition and the bottom two contesting the plate.

The plate competition was won by the under-12 coaches for Chichester RFC, who beat Pulborough under-15s B – in a very close final.

The cup was won by Wild Wombats from Newbury RFC – they beat Worthing Nomads, with the game being refereed by Andy Phillips.

Chichester RFC thanked all the volunteers and referees who gave up their time freely to make the event possible and West Wittering estate for allowing the event to take place.

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Related topics:Spectators