Rugby

TOAD 7s 2011

August 2011

The tournament is one of the friendliest and most fun tournaments in the country with teams ranging in ability from scratch teams to well established sevens sides. The tournament is held in Salisbury and is for adult men and there will be food, a bar, music and a children’s academy. If you wish to enter a team then please email rugby@toadcharity.com for more details. More to follow soon. Watch this space

TOAD Sevens 2009

Report by Ian 'The Bodfather' Boddy
If Old Trafford is Manchester’s ‘Theatre of Dreams’ then it stands to reason that Britford Lane playing field is Salisbury’s ‘Amphitheatre of Aspirations’. It was to this Mecca of rugby that the Galáticos of the oval ball flocked on a mid-August day for the inaugural TOAD Rugby 7’s Tournament.

The participants came from across the south of England and represented a range of skill levels. Towards the lower end of the ability spectrum was ‘The Toads’, the imaginatively named charity team. Having propped up their group in the early stages, the team lifted themselves admirably to edge a nervy wooden spoon decider against Stoneham. Despite their less than stellar showing, the team can console themselves with the fact that they were by far the most stylish team on display; one charity insider has stated that even Gok Wan found the flamboyant pink and sky blue shirt, ‘a little bit risqué’.    

At the other end of the talent spectrum, local outfit The Farmers met the King Prawns in the final, with both teams having played some entertaining rugby throughout the tournament. The match itself lived up to expectations with the hometown boys, backed up by some vociferous and partisan support, overturning a 22 point deficit to take the spoils in style. The winning captain was presented with the Makonde Cup whilst the crowd looked on in awe at the finely crafted and priceless Tanzanian artefact. Envious World Cup winner and England manager, Martin Johnson was left wondering how this prize, the greatest prize in rugby, had eluded him throughout his illustrious career. Next year, Martin, next year...

Whilst the day was an overwhelming success for most, I’m sad to report that it was a day of abject personal despair; a freak injury involving a bar of soap and a chinchilla had left me sitting it out on the sidelines. There was consolation: Salisbury’s glitterati had turned out in force and much amiable conversation was shared over a pint of Black Rat cider and a hotdog in the Beer Tent. Class.

All considered, our charity’s premiere was an entertaining spectacle which embodied what we are all about: putting the ‘fun’ in ‘fundraising’, in the process we managed to make 920 quid for TOAD.