The England Touch Nationals take place this weekend on the Highfields Sports Complex at the University of Nottingham, with 46 sides competing.
It is the premier domestic competition for Touch Rugby in England, and will aid in selection for England’s High Performance Squads for the 2024 World Cup, plus the upcoming Touch Nationals, European Touch Championships, and Youth Atlantic Cup.
It is all part of a huge year for Touch Rugby, which also sees the launch of the RFU’s new Touch to Twickenham campaign, which sees school teams playing across various regional days through April and May ahead of a Finals Day on the 22nd June at Sixways Stadium.
Live Stream
NextGenXV will be present at the Highfields Sports Complex for the three day event over the course of this bank holiday weekend, live streaming all of the action from Pitch 1 across Saturday 29th April, Sunday 30thApril, and Monday 1st May.
The action will all be available on the NextGenXV YouTube Channel, and also embedded below:
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
In total there will be 8 pitches running, with 10 different categories, and a whopping 46 different teams, playing 40 minute games. Each team may have a maximum of 2 players that are ineligible for England selection, but they must have completed 2 years of residency in their region.
The main three categories are the Men’s Open, Women’s Open, and Mixed Open, last year the South East regions dominated the Men’s and Women’s Opens, while the Midlands Tigers won the Mixed Open. This year the Men’s and Women’s Opens have 6 regions each, while the mixed has 7.
There are then several age-restricted categories, the Women’s Over 27s, with three teams, the Men’s Over 30s with six teams, Women’s Over 35s with three teams, two Over 40s competitions, the Men with 4 teams and Women with three teams, and two further male categories, Over 45s with 4 teams and Over 50s with four teams as well.
Pools
Open Pools
| Men’s Open | Women’s Open | Mixed Open |
| South East Taipans | South East Taipans | South East Taipans |
| North West Touch | North West Touch | North West Touch |
| South West Saxons | South West Saxons | South West Saxons |
| South East Sharks | South East Sharks | South East Sharks |
| Midland Tigers | Midland Tigers | Midland Tigers |
| West Wildcats | West Wildcats | West Wildcats |
| North East Raiders |
Men’s Age Restriced Pools
| Men’s Over 30s | Men’s Over 40s | Men’s Over 45s | Men’s Over 50s |
| Midlands Tigers | South West Saxons | Midland Tigers | Midland Tigers |
| South East Taipans | West Wildcats | West Wildcats | North West Touch |
| North East Raiders | South East Taipans | South East Sharks | North East Raiders |
| South West Saxons | North West Touch | South West Saxons | South East Taipans |
| North West Touch | |||
| South East Sharks |
| Women’s Over 27s | Women’s Over 35s | Women’s Over 40s |
| Midland Tigers | South East Sharks | Midland Tigers |
| South East Taipans | West Wildcats | South West Saxons |
| South West Saxons | North East Raiders | North West Touch |
Live Stream Schedule (Pitch 1 Schedule):
Saturday 29th April
9.30am South East Sharks v North West Touch (Mixed Open)
10.20am North West Touch v South West Saxons (Men’s Open)
11.10am South East Taipans v Midland Tigers (Women’s Open)
12pm North East Raiders v West Wildcasts (Women’s O35s)
12.50pm Midland Tigers v West Wildcasts (Men’s Open)
1.40pm North West Touch v South East Sharks (Men’s O30s)
2.30pm South East Taipans v North East Raiders (Women’s Friendly, Mixed Age)
3pm South East Sharks v North West Touch (Women’s Friendly, Mixed Age)
3.30pm South West Saxons v Midland Tigers (Women’s Friendly, Mixed Age)
4pm West Wildcats v North East Raiders (Mixed Open)
4.50pm South East Sharks v North West Touch (Women’s Open)
5.40pm Midland Tigers v South West Saxons (Women’s O27s)
Sunday 30th April
9am North West Touch v South West Saxons (Women’s O40s)
9.50am Midland Tigers v North East Raiders (Men’s O30s)
10.40am South West Saxons v West Wildcats (Men’s O40s)
11.30am Midland Tigers v South West Saxons (Women’s O27s)
12.25pm West Wildcats v South West Saxons (Mixed Open)
1.20pm South West Saxons v West Wildcats (Women’s Open)
2.15pm Midland Tigers v South East Taipans (Men’s O50s)
3.10pm South East Taipans v South East Sharks (Men’s Open)
4.10pm Men’s Over 30s Final
5.10pm Women’s Over 27s Final
Monday 1st May
9am South East Sharks v West Wildcats (Men’s O45s)
9.55am Midland Tigers v North West Touch (Mixed Open)
10.50am Women’s Open Semi Final 1
11.45am Men’s Open Semi Final 1
12.40pm Mixed Open Semi Final 1
1.35pm Women’s Open 3rd Place Play Off
2.30pm Women’s Open Final
3.30pm Men’s Open Final
4.30pm Mixed Open Final