On a wet Saturday in July, eighty men arrived at Ystradgynlais RFC to take part in their first ever Tag rugby tournament.

Tag rugby is one of the fastest growing sports in Wales, with many leagues through out the land. It is a non contact sport that can be played by all ages, sexes and abilities. It is tremendous for developing skill, agility and most importantly teamwork.

The tournament was made up of eight teams, split into two groups of four. The top half of each group entered into the ‘Siop y Clwb’ cup with the lower sides competing for the plate.

It was a competitive day with each team playing their part to create a spectacular tournament. The weather was horrendous but with quick inter play between games and individuals desire to shine tag rugby received a great advert.

The Plate final was contested between the ‘Sports centre pirates’, who were made up from the Leisure centre staff and the shock team of the tournament ‘The Blue Revolution’ with majority of the team being over 35 and enjoying a rare opportunity to shine again on the recreation ground. In what was a tight contest the youth and fitness of the Pirates told and recorded the slimmest of victories to win the plate.

The cup final was an exiting affair, contested by The Flamingo’s who were made up from many of Ystrad’s senior team and the Young Guns, who will represent the clubs youth next season. The Young Guns used there pace and balance well to race into an impressive four nil lead and looked to be cruising at half time. The Flamingo’s lead by Nathan Holsgrove thought differently and managed to claw back to draw. This left a tense final minute and the Flamingo’s hearts were broken when former Neath scrum half Gareth Sparky-Jones rolled back the years to score the winning try and the Youths first silver ware of the season.

On a terrible wet day in Ystrad an exiting day was had by all who took part and the Blues look forward to next years tournament with anticipation.