The Morris Rugby High Schools Girls attended the Portugal Youth Rugby Festival on April 13-14, 2019. This is one of the largest rugby tournaments in Europe — with 3,000+ players, 300+ games, 118 teams from around the world, and 5 continents represented.

The team consisted of 15 current players and 4 players who graduated from the team in 2018. We decided to deviate from our standard Morris colors and chose a USA motif for the jerseys.

The team assembled in Lisbon and was shuttled out to Hotel Estoril Eden, where they would reside for the duration of the tournament. Side note; we felt that the Jersey Girls would want to stay in familiar setting so we stayed at the beach!

Once we arrived in Estoril, we were immediately shuttled out to begin sightseeing. Some went to view the monastery, others decided a cleansing beverage and some chow was a great way to start the long weekend.

Friday Is a Practice Day

With not many options for a field, we improvised and used the natural resources by the hotel — the beach! The girls enjoyed the cold water, and somehow a game of touch rugby escalated into everyone going into the water.

Surfing was also on the agenda for Friday, as the girls got to “hang ten” in the waves of Portugal, while the parents went on a Tapas and Wine tour.

The Coaching Staff was required to attend a tournament briefing prior to the commencement of games. We made friends with the UK referees, the Executive Director of the tournament and other coaches from around the world. Our attire was spot on for the event!

Saturday Is a Rugby Day!

After a much needed night of rest, the team was up early an on the buses to the University of Lisbon, a great facility consisting of 8 pitches (not soccer fields) and a stadium pitch for the finals.

Our first draw on the day was the Australian team from Melbourne. The girls were much bigger than the Morris team, but Morris fought hard and learned a few lessons in that game, namely that none of the referees knew the high school women’s rules.

Up next on the day was an All-Star team from Portugal. This team wasn’t quite as big, but still outsized the Morris girls. The girls fought hard, but the Portuguese team just had more weapons than Morris.

We were done for the day, so the girls enjoyed the Carnival atmosphere on the grounds of Lisbon University for a few hours. Then the traditional Saturday Night Rookie show commenced immediately after a lovely dinner at the hotel. There were 20+ acts that we needed to get through before the next day. We took over the hotel bar and had some fun enjoying each other’s company and laughing at the “talent” show.

Sunday Is (Also) a Rugby Day

We were back at the pitch on Sunday to face the same two teams. The girls played very well and really brought a little Jersey attitude to the games. They were outsized, but you would never have known by the way they were tackling and running hard throughout the games.

The remainder of the day was spent walking around the tournament grounds, sitting in the Coaches Corner lounge, or hanging with the band in the stadium (Dobbs and Aliprandi).

The Portugal Youth Rugby Festival was a memorable experience for the Morris Rugby High School Girls. We traveled with 19 players, and each and every player had a great experience playing outside of the United States. We’ll see what we do in 2 years time, it may be worth going back again!

Coaching Staff

Gene Caulfield – Head Coach, 856-649-3445, [email protected]
Stef Aliprandi – Assistant Coach
Chris Paul – Assistant Coach
Bill Dobbs – Assistant Coach
Posted in Corporation, Men's, NJ Rugby, Teams, Teamwork, U12 U14 Boys, U14 Girls, U18 Boys, U18 Girls, Women's, Youth Teams