The London Scottish touch rugby team had their first outing this week.

On Monday, November 10, members of the London Scottish touch rugby team traveled a short distance up the road to Grasshoppers to play in a mixed fixture.

14 London Scottish players aged 14-40 arrived to pull on the Scottish jersey and took the field for the first time as a team.

We caught up with Community Development Manager Ross Peacock who has been running the touch rugby sessions since the summer months.

He said: “We started playing touch rugby as a way to keep everyone at the club connected and engaged during the off season and the summer months and it was a lot of fun.

“With numbers being consistent week in week out we made the decision to continue the sessions at the club from the beginning of the season and numbers have continued to grow ever since.

“We now have a core group of players of about 15- 20 that turn up and play week in week out on a Monday evening which is great!

“Monday night was a great evening. Grasshoppers have similar numbers to us and it was great to eventually get a run out against someone other than ourselves, something that I feel everyone needed.”

He added: “I'm not quite sure what the final score was but that doesn't really matter, what's important is that we have our first competitive fixture under our belt and I look forward to playing more in the very near future.”

We also caught up with Lewey Hook, Under 17s Coach, and Coach of the touch team at Grasshoppers.

He said: “It was fantastic that London Scottish could respond so quickly and bring two teams to play Touch against us at ‘Hoppers this week.

“We matched up well playing a more serious game with youth speed (and me!) and another game including male and female players from 14-50 years old showing just how inclusive touch footy can be!!”

Touch rugby sessions run at Richmond Athletic Ground every Monday evening on pitch two and are open to anyone interested, regardless of their age or ability – so come join in the fun!

If you are interested in getting involved or indeed would like further information please contact Club Development Manager Corne du Rand at corne.durand@londonscottish.com.