2010 Benelux Touch Cup – 22nd June 2010
Sunday 20th June 2010 saw Luxembourg play host to the 3rd Benelux Touch Cup. Congratulations to Touch Belgium who played hard and finished in 2nd position behind the Netherlands.
Rugby Club Luxembourg put on a great tournament, turned up in numbers and dug out the flags to make us feel very very welcome. Belgium played 5 matches in all : Mens v Luxembourg, Mixed v Luxembourg, Mens v The Netherlands, Ladies v The Netherlands and Mixed v The Netherlands.
I'm delighted that everyone on the pitch gave over 100% in every match and although the Belgian teams had rarely (if ever) played together before, everyone worked hard throughout.
A fit, strong and fast Lux mens team penetrated Belgiums disorganised defence too often but Belgium were able to strike back, driving hard, fast and consistently. Most of the match was spent on the Luxembourg Line and Belgium made their opportunities count more often than not to take the win 6-4.
A very similar story against the 'Mixed' team, Luxembourg opting to play young lads as opposed to ladies. Excellent skills from the youngsters saw more penetration, secure hands and great last minute releases to work the ball wider and keep Belgium on their backfootsies more than the men did. However, Belgiums experience on the line meant Lux were caught offside over and over and the tries for Belgium soon came up. The match ended with the same result 6-4.
Belgium v Netherlands Men and Belgium v Netherlands Ladies took place at the same time on adjacent pitches.
Belgium Ladies played an excellent match and scored first, holding the Dutch at bay until the start of the second half where some defensive dissarray and an opportunistic speedster took advantage! The match closed at 1-1 and gave many their first taste of a tournament drop off. 5 on 5 and the dutch pulled through :o( 1-2.
Meanwhile on pitch 1, things were not quite so rosy. The Netherlands Men played a superior match, driving harder, faster, deeper and spreading accurately over distance. Belgium were kept on the back foot and were too slow to react to the efficient, wide and accurate spread. Belgiums attack was fair and good ground was gained to put us on the line often but the Dutch were too well drilled and their shutdown quick and effective. Belgium had several opportunites but were only once able to turn them into golden eggs. 1-10
Final match of the day was Belgium Mixed v Netherlands Mixed. An excellent game played in great spirit by both teams. Quick, tight drives, creative open play and construction on the line saw the play to-ing and fro-ing throughout. The Dutch, however, were a little fitter, a little faster and a little sharper. Despite a sterling effort by Belgium at the end of a loooong day, the Netherlands nevertheless got over the line more often than not. NL 12ish - BE 2ish.
With the Netherlands also dominating in their matches against Luxembourg it was a set of straight wins for the FLying DutchMenGirls.
2010 Benelux Touch Cup Winners - The Netherlands! (who also take home the Grand Ducks of Luxembourg!)
Many thanks to Erick Acker from Touch France, who, throughout the day ran a Level 1 Referees course. 7 players from Touch Belgium participated and I'm delighted to announce that all participants passed and have now received their Level 1 badges.
Congratulations to our new Level 1 Referees :
Jorge Bayo Bilbao
Niel Markwick
Anneleen Verhaeghe
Daphne Galle
Laragh Widdess
John Gosper
Wanrong Tham
Next up is Calais, Bristol, Budapest, Vienna, Brussels, Brussels and Brussels !!
Jonathon Ralfe,
President Touch Belgium
