With no Men’s fixture on this weekend and with the Birmingham Moseley game confirmed to take place on the 12th march, K.O 7:45 @ Heywood Rd, we focus on our 1861 Ladies & Colts in this week’s preview. The Ladies have the prospects of winning the ‘National Challenge 1 NW’ League this weekend as well as our Junior and Senior Colts competing in the relevant Halbro Colts League Plate tournaments. Continue reading “Weekend Preview- 1861 & Colts”
At 17 years and 52 days old Pantelis Stylianou is the youngest ever player to be called up for the Cypriot National Rugby team and the youngest ever player in the tournaments history. Playing at the European Rugby 7s Conference in Belgrade Serbia over the weekend of 8/9 June 2019. Although the team narrowly missed out on progressing in the Conference Cup itself, which would have led to an Olympic qualifier competition, they did however win the Conference Trophy with an emphatic final game win over Austria.
Pantelis was the only player in the squad to play in all 6 games. He scored 4 tries, which also makes him the youngest ever try scorer and was voted the Cypriot player of the tournament by his team mates and management. The team won 4, drew 1 and only lost 1 game (by a 1 point difference), quite an achievement for a small island team.
Due to Pantelis’s performance he has been selected for trials for the National XV squad in August, ready for next seasons European fixtures. Pantelis was one of the original members of Sale FC M&Js program, progressing through the age groups and finally playing two years up for the Senior Colts 2 seasons ago.
He is continuing to train with the Sale FC senior squad and is hoping now that he is 17, he will play for the senior team in the forthcoming season. Pantelis says
It was a fantastic feeling and I’m very proud to be part of an international team.
It was a great experience and definitely one I would like to repeat. Obviously its a different type of game from XVs rugby that takes some getting used to but, Im glad I played my part well and helped the team make a good impression at the tournament
Last Sunday the Kids First Festival was held at Sale FC Rugby’s training ground at Carrington High Performance Centre. The community coach Andy Hughes was well supported by a team of volunteers from the Under 13’s parents. The parents did everything from running the car park to running the burger van (Burger Queens) The event included teams from Macclesfield and Stockport. Tricky The Mutt made a nuisance of himself as usual, but was well received by everyone there. All in all it was a great day and we can’t wait till next year!
This Sunday we are hosting an Under 13’s festival at Carrington High Performance centre for teams in the local area. We are delighted to have teams from Wilmslow, Macclesfield and Stockport coming down to celebrate rugby. The focus of the festival is on fun and learning. Some of the rules include all players must play 50% of each game, players are responsible for team selection and post match debrief. They are also encouraged to do a joint huddle with the other team at the end to discuss what they enjoyed about the game. This festival is the first we’ve run in this format and we are delighted that we’ve got this opportunity to encourage rugby in our area.
The festival this year is being organised by our Sale FC Rugby community coach Andy Hughes. Andy is our first team captain and has been responsible for organising the first ever Trafford Schools League for girls playing rugby.
Sale FC Rugby and Sale Sharks player Paolo Odogwu says
This kind of festival is essential for the development of rugby in the North West. It emphasises that rugby is a sport to be enjoyed and played as a team with your mates. Have a cracking day!”
Saturday afternoon sees Sale FC Rugby play our last National League One game of the season against Cambridge Rugby.
The day is a celebration of rugby, with the Minis and Juniors having their awards presentation in the morning, followed by the first team game, before the Men’s, Women’s and Under 16’s sides have their awards presentation in the evening.
With Sale FC now mathematically safe from the relegation battle, it is sure to be a fantastic day of rugby for all involved. However, our visitors sit just inside the relegation zone and will therefore be looking to escape from the grasps of relegation and National League Two South for next season.
We look forward to seeing you at the CorpAcq Stadium, where there will be a barbecue on for all fans, with a parade at half time for all the minis and juniors to participate in.
Admission to the game is as follows: Adults £10, Concessions £8 and Children U16’s FREE.
The Trafford Girls Rugby programme continues to go from strength to strength since it began just a month ago.
Monday nights down at the new venue of Carrington HPC Training Centre have definitely been a lot popular with the Trafford Girls Rugby programme since it started just over a month ago.
Coach Andy Hughes has seen the number of girls attending the sessions grow week on week, with the wide range of ages being catered for in both of the ages brackets, these being U13’s and U15’s as this fledgling programme finds its feet.
Each week, the session start at 6.30pm and the invitation is open to any girls who fall into either of the age categories within the Trafford Schools catchment area. Therefore, if you would like to come along please contact Andy Hughes either via email Andy@Salefc.com or 0161 905 2006.
The Girls also feature in the Messenger this week, to read more about the Trafford Girls programme please follow the link here
