Donegal-based player lines out for Ireland at Touch Rugby World Cup

There was a Donegal connection to one of the Ireland teams who took part in the 2024 Touch Rugby World Cup, which took place in Nottingham last month.

Salim Temtem was a member of the Ireland Men’s 45s team that came ninth in their division. Salim, who is a native of Paris, has been living in High Glen, near Carrigart since 2022.

His wife Nichola Hopkins is a native of Carrigart. Salim previously played Touch Rugby internationally for Switzerland in 2018 before transferring to Ireland. He has also refereed Touch Rugby at international level and is a member of Cranford Athletic Club in Donegal.

Salim showed a lot of commitment to the Ireland Men’s 45s team. As most of the World Cup training camps were held in Dublin or Athlone, that meant taking a flight from Donegal airport to Dublin and getting a lift from one of his teammates to training.
Touch Rugby is six-a-side, non-contact version of rugby which is very popular in Australia and New Zealand where it happens to be the number one participation sport. Here in Ireland, it is growing in popularity with nearly 500 players. Games involving all Irish teams are available to watch on the Federation of International Touch YouTube channel 

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