Morris Rugby High School Girls Go to Portugal!
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 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 DayWith 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.
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Saturday Is a Rugby Day!
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.
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.
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