BULL’N’BOOZE
The rules for this years Bull N Booze are as usual the IRFU standard rules, links, downloads and a shortened version can be found HERE
Early bird discount for this years Bull N Booze ended at 5pm on the 23rd (We extended it to cover all of you who had sent in payments over the weekend).
Due to the limited space that we have, (WE DO NOT PLAY LEAGUES OFFSITE, ALL GAMES ARE PLAYED WITHIN THE CLUB GROUNDS) Things are getting tight with regard to places, If you want to guarantee a spot, get moving quickly.
Bruff RFC Tag Rugby team competed at the International Tag Rugby Festival in England over the June Bank holiday weekend. Twenty teams from all over England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland as well as Fijian side travelled to Rochdale outside Manchester for the first event of its kind to be hosted by the RFL in the UK.
The Bruff touring squad consisted of club members as well as tag players and referees who were involved in our Spring League, in addition we were delighted to be joined by 2 friends from Wigan who were adopted Irish for the weekend! The team displayed some good tag rugby skills in the blazing sunshine, winning 3 of their 4 pool matches to qualify for the plate semi-final. Up against a tough Scotish side, Bruff were narrowly defeated 8-6 in the semis.
We were delighted to catch up with many Irish ex pats living in Manchester who came along on the Saturday afternoon to cheer us on, including Apryl O’Rourke and family.
What we lacked on the pitch we made up for on the dance floor and the locals didn’t know what hit them when the team arrived at the clubhouse on Saturday night, dressed Hawiain style beachwear!!
Thanks a million to all the squad who represented Bruff over the weekend!
Our hosts Rochdale Swarm tag rugby club showed us a fantastic time with a great line up of entertainment organised all evening. We plan to make this an annual trip. Rochdale Swarm are already planning a return visit to our “Bull n Booze” Tag Festival on 15th August and a Scottish and Welsh side have also expressed interest in travelling over. It promises to be the biggest and best festival yet, will places filling up very fast. If your team is up for the challenge, enter now by emailing brufftagrugby@gmail.com or call 087-9312817
Tag Team at International Tag Festival Rochdale UK
Bruff Hawaian fancy dress
A poem written by Ray O’Brien, a tag rugby player from the team Tottally Inform Taggers:-
Week 5 approaches and the legs feel strong, the thought of charging over another group nearly derives a song,
12 TITS stand together with determination on their faces, about to put that Kellogs Pun through their paces,
This Special K team are a team of teachers, pity they will spend there night weeping on the bleachers,
Now youth is something they have on their side as their average age is 25,
But wait don’t check your run, as we have Chief Running Bear O Driscoll driving us on,
Fast Hands Michael will break down the team with his snipping runs, not from his bum!!
And you’ll have High Tower Mikey with our Fag dispensing victory dance as he lays his ball on the line (Rugby Ball that is)
To finish them off I propose the milk, this will make them soggy and surely they’ll split,
to allow our beautiful backrow of ladies to drive through and score, for a 9 point victory wouldn’t want more!
So Cheers TITS cheer and Shake I beg, for Its victory that awaits us, when this shower of taggers are bate!!!!!!
Well, What a weekend.
I can honestly say that it was the best Bull N Booze tag festival to date. It kicked off on Friday with the Heineken Cup and John Hayes for the Presentation of some crystal ware and a plaque to George Clancy by his Uncle Jack in honour of his gaining IRB Elite International referee status . George then presented the club with his first Full IRB jersey as an elite referee gained in the game between South Africa and England a month ago. There were campers from Clonmel, Clare, Dublin, Limerick and Rochdale Swarm (Who have sworn to make this a yearly pilgrimage after the good time they had.) A fantastic night in Jack Clancy’s coupled with brilliant food, good music and flowing drink meant that some of the players had to be out early in the morning to blow off the cobwebs before the kickoff on Saturday.
The good weather coupled with very lively and sporting teams conspired to give us one of the best competitions to date. Even though team numbers were a little down with a few people crying off, twenty teams from all over the country and beyond played off for cups and medals in four different categories. Lucozade Sport Roadshow was on site for anyone who wanted to be tested and compare their fitness against the Professionals, The Bucking Bronco went down a treat for those willing to test their balance and bull handling after the ball handling.
The Sumo Suits caused a little bit of uproar (Well done to 3rds team Captain, Shamy Sheehan, who just couldn’t handle 1st XV Coach Eoin in the finish ? ). After that and a little break due to the only shower of the day, the competitions finished off with the following teams grabbing the silverware on offer:
B Cup – Mud Stuffins
B Plate – Running Wild
C Cup – Chariots of Fire!!
C Plate – The Lyrics Board Champions 1999
Many thanks to John Hayes and his good lady Fiona for their time over the weekend between posing for photos and taking the time out on Friday for the presentations then to come back to present the prizes again on Saturday night. In the midst of all that, John Presented Bruff with his very first international Jersey which will take pride of place on the clubhouse wall. After the prize-giving Willie Conway handed over the traditional first visit plaque to Rochdale who then returned the favour with a Rochdale Hornets Jersey and Pennant, Rosie Foley brought her “Beal Boru” Team from Killaloe, we had the Band “Intrigue” who were absolutely fantastic (Watch these guys folks, they’re really going places, and you saw them here first) and kept the crowd going well into the night. This was followed by the disco, the obligatory singsong (with Ray O’ Brien on the guitar) outside in the torchlight until god knows what hour of the morning, and camping with over sixty tents in the grounds. After finally surfacing and having breakfast the following day they eventually made their way home after some chill out time in the clubhouse in the afternoon.
Again well done to the “Burger Babes” and the bar staff who managed to keep everyone fed and “Watered” , Gráinne and Dave for a great event, and to the referees especially our own who kept the competition going in military fashion. I’m still knackered, but we’re already getting some great feedback and we’re thinking about next season’s event, we want to make it even bigger and better. If you couldn’t make it, it’s a pity, you missed one hell of a weekend’s party, well there’s always next year. That’s the end of the Tag for this season until next spring’s “Twilight Tag” league so well done to all involved. It’s time now to prepare for the return of the Full on Stuff…
Next Committee meeting on Monday 11th August, We all need a bit of a break after this.
Now to the photos: