We were invited to take part in the Marbella Inter School Tag Rugby tournament held at the Marbella Rugby Club. We took 16 very keen Year 6 tag rugby enthusiasts who made up 3 teams in the Under 12 division. As a rugby player myself, growing up supporting 4-times World Champions South Africa, I was immediately surprised during our warm-up games to see the great hands that our players had. Their great catching and passing was the first aspect I noticed. Their ability to pass and catch gave us great confidence since it was a case of the unknown; we had no idea of how good our opposition were or how we would stand up in a real test against the other 4 schools.
From the very first game, we showed that we were up for the contest. Our passing and catching were up there with very few handling errors. We attacked with confidence, gaining ground, and defended with grit and determination; it's not easy grabbing a tag from an opposition winger flying down the touchline or a player side-stepping or scything through the middle, but our players threw themselves around the field, literally diving with guts and determination. On the attack, we ran, passed, side-stepped, twisted and turned to score many a try. On the social side, there was a fantastic atmosphere of camaraderie and respect, which is synonymous with the game. The countless number of thank yous we heard from our children as well as the number of times they offered to help us with carrying food and drinks was outstanding. We will definitely be entering teams in next year's tournament. Bring it on!
