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Wigan and Cheltenham seal Series titles
Oxford Rugby Club was the venue for the final weekend of the 2021 Elite and Development National Touch Series, and the action on the field did not disappoint!
Wigan Touch Warriors (Elite) and Cheltenham Tigers (Development) went into the final rounds of their respective Series sitting at the top of the table, and both teams reached the required stages of the tournament which kept them ahead of the rest of the competition.
Wigan’s Cup win in Banbury meant that they needed to finish in the quarter finals and stay ahead of London Scorpions, their closest competition.
Three wins in the pool stages over Canterbury Cougars, CSSC London Eagles 3 and Thames Valley Vikings saw the Warriors achieve the first goal, and with Scorpions only being placed in the Plate competition (for teams between 9th and 16th places) Wigan’s title had been confirmed.
The knockout stages maintained the tight competition which has been seen throughout the Elite NTS. Three of the four Cup quarter finals were decided by just two tries, with two of the Plate quarter finals only having one try between the teams and three of the Bowl quarter finals being separated by no more than two scores.
Hot Custard beat Wigan in the last eight, but were themselves pipped 4-3 by BBR in the semi-finals. On the other side of the draw NQ Rebels saw off CSSC London Eagles 1 in the quarters and then Cambridge Hornets in the semis, before a clinical performance in attack and defence saw the Cup head NQ’s way.
London Scorpions and Nottingham Hoods put on a fantastic show in the Plate final, Scorpions winning 6-5, and CSSC London Eagles 3 beat Revolution 4-1 in the Bowl final.
NQ Rebels leapfrogged their way into second place in the overall table, Wigan top on 132 points and NQ on 124. But after that the tightness of the modern club game was shown with five teams separated by just eight points.
CLICK HERE to see the overall league standings, re-watch the day’s live streams and get a link to photo galleries
On Sunday Cheltenham knew that they needed at least a top four finish to guarantee the Development NTS title.
In reaching the final they did just that, but they were denied a memorable double by Galaxy London in a 20 minutes which was nothing short of outstanding as the teams traded scores, sidesteps and wide-slung passes.
Galaxy came out on top as 5-4 winners for their second Cup title in as many tournaments, but the story of the day came from Exeter Eagle Owls, who shrugged off their 14th place finish last time out to reach the Cup semi-finals in Oxford, where they, too, lost by a single try to Galaxy.
Norwich Rebels also had a memorable afternoon, and after trailing Peterborough 3-1 at half-time in their Plate quarter final turned on the style to win that match 4-3, then the semi-final 4-1 against Bristol Jets and the final 2-1 against Horsham Tigers.
Cheltenham Jaguars ensured that their club finished the day with an individual team trophy as well as the overall title, beating Thames Valley Vikings in the Bowl final.
CLICK HERE to see the overall league standings, re-watch the day’s live streams and get a link to photo galleries
Many thanks to Banbury and Oxford rugby clubs for hosting the Elite and Development NTS tournaments over the last few weeks, and for the volunteers from those venues who helped everything run smoothly.
Thanks as well to the 600-plus players, 60-plus referees and medics/staff, especially Events Manager Aisling Musgrove for all her organisational hard work.
