Warriors launch Touch team

Wigan Warriors are delighted to officially launch our Touch team.

Featuring both male and female players with a combination of experience and youth, the team is an already established Touch side, and now officially come under the Wigan Warriors name.

The team includes Jordan Melling who has represented England 75 times, as well as former Warriors Academy player Sam Grant.

Sam Halsall’s sister, India, is also part of the team and has recently been selected for the England Under-18s Girls team. The Warriors Touch Coach is Jeff Bimson, who also works for England as the Men’s Open Assistant.

The competition structure sees the Warriors Touch team play in the National Touch Series (NTS). The series is held over three separate single day tournaments in which teams split into pools of four and then progress into placed Quarter Finals and Semi Finals. The overall winner is decided on a points system over the three separate tournaments.

There is a Men’s and Women’s NTS which takes place between April and May, as well as a Mixed Elite NTS which takes place between July and July. The Warriors team are the 2021 NTS Mixed Champions.

The rules of Touch are as follows:

• Games are 6v6 with teams allowed up to eight subs (team total of 14).
• Games are played over 2x20minute halves with a 5-minute half time break.
• Play is started with a tap off in the centre of the field.
• Similar to Rugby League, each team gets 6 tackles with tackles being made with any form of touch and players must retreat 10m after each tackle.
• The main differences to Rugby League are that there are no kicks are allowed in Touch and the dummy half cannot score (there is a turnover if he/she is caught). Once a tackle is made, players will step over the tackle instead of rolling the ball back.
• A down ball is a turnover unless opposition have the last touch then the team receive 6 tackles.
• When a play-the-ball is taken within 7 metres of the try line the defending players must retreat with both feet behind their own line before they can make the touch. If a player is touched within the in-goal area before grounding the ball the touch counts and play is restarted on the 7-metre line. Players touched within the 7-metre line have the option to take the play-the-ball back to the 7-metre line.

Patrick McLoughlin, Community Men’s Health Engagement Officer, said: “It’s fantastic to launch our Touch team. Ahead of the first team game on Friday, we will have an open training session at Robin Park Arena which will give fans a chance to see the team together for the first time. The session will be led by our Touch squad coaches and international players which will be available for all ages to get involved in and experience Touch rugby. It gives us a great opportunity to show the accessibility and development opportunities that come within the sport and we look forward to hopefully seeing the Wigan team succeed in the future.”

England Touch Association Chief Executive, Chris Simon, said: “Wigan has been one of the leading clubs within England Touch for a number of years, winning the Elite National Touch Series in 2021 and providing plenty of players to England national teams. We’re delighted that they have come under the umbrella of Wigan Warriors, which is one of the most recognised and historic names within Rugby League.

“We are already working closely with the Warriors Foundation on a number of projects to introduce Touch to more people and showcase the physical and mental health benefits of our sport.

“We hope that this can be a template for other clubs across the country, where the sharing of knowledge and best practice grows all variants of oval ball sports.”

If you want to watch, learn or meet the team on Friday night, come down to Robin Park Arena from 6pm to experience a festival of Touch rugby.