Touch Rugby European Championships 2008
Euros 2008. The term conjures up memories of the final on 29.6.2008 where an in-form Spain defeated the German team, with Fernando Torres scoring the all important goal to win one goal to zero. But for the players in the German touch rugby national team, the performance of the German football side merely served as motivation for their own European Championship which was to take place 2 weeks later. Our Euros took place just outside Paris in Massey. While the touch rugby Euros are not at a standard comparable to the top national games in the world cup, where Australia and New Zealand dominate, the teams nevertheless take this event very seriously. The German squad consisted of three teams, playing in the open mens, open womens and the open mixed competitions respectively. This is still a relatively new novelty sport in Germany, and with the exception of the womens team, most of the players are non-Germans who have been living in Germany for long enough to qualify to play under the speci...