The 2024 Touch Rugby World Cup took place in Nottingham recently, from July 15 to 21, and two Mayo men were part of two of the Ireland teams that played in the tournament.
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.
John Ennis from Castlebar was a key member of the Ireland Men’s 30s who reached the quarter-finals before going down 12-5 to New Zealand. Ireland qualified for the quarter-finals with wins over Luxembourg, Canada, Spain, Switzerland, Cook Islands and Sweden with John scoring five tries in total. John was previously a member of the Ireland Men’s Open team from 2016 to 2023 and won two European silver medals in 2022 and 2023 before moving up to the Men’s 30s division for this World Cup. He plays his club Touch with the Old Wesley club in Dublin.
Ballina native Conor Slack also took the field in Nottingham with the Ireland Men’s 45s team that finished in ninth place in their division. Conor is based in Galway and plays with the Racoon West Touch Rugby Club there which he founded in 2012.
Anyone in Mayo who wishes to try their hand at this fast and exciting sport, there is social touch rugby at Westport RFC on Mondays. See Westport Rugby Club on Facebook for details.