TagFest Edinburgh 2023 Review

The first ever TagFest in Scotland took place on Saturday 2nd September where 24 teams from London, Yorkshire, Wigan, Bristol, Ireland and Edinburgh played under the shadow of Arthur’s Seat at Duddingston Playing Fields. A glorious day of sunshine and 20+ degrees set the scene for a day – clearly unexpected Scottish weather judging by some of the red coloured faces at the end of the day!

A fancy dress theme of Film & TV brought Scooby Doo, Napoleon Dynamite and The Incredibles to the pitch to mention a few, with the best dressed team being awarded to Yabba Tagga Do! from Wigan.

All teams played in pool stages in Phase 1 of the day and were then placed into 3 divisions for Phase 2 – the Cup, Plate and Bowl. Edinburgh’s own Tag Slagz led the rankings at the end of Phase 1 along with Moby & the Dicks, Baa Baa City, Bilbo Draggins, Oooh Tag Fwiends, Warriors, Kraken & We’re All in this Tag-ether making up the Cup division.

The break between phase 1 and 2 in the afternoon gave teams the chance to test their sporting skills further, where teams competed in a Sports Day relay consisting of a sack race, wheelbarrow race, three-legged race and finished off with dizzy dinosaur. Yorkshire’s Baa Baa City took their first competition win of the day, but not their last! Some sumo wrestling and Twister kept the players’ muscles warmed up and ready for Phase 2 of the day to come.

WIth Try Tag Rugby Edinburgh only in operation for a little over a year, it was great to see Edinburgh teams competing against more experienced, travelling teams, with an Edinburgh-based team contesting each of the 3 finals on the day. The first final of the day – the Bowl division, was won by The Joy of Tagging, after a closely fought game, resulting in a 4-3 win over Only Tags.

Up next was the Plate final, contested by Scottish Unicorns and Pandas. The London-based Panda’s took home the silverware after a tough day of playing with no subs due to travel issues for some of the team. Quite an achievement!

Crowds gathered on the touchlines and hill to watch the Cup final between Tag Slagz and Baa Baa City. The Edinburgh fans got behind their team with chants echoing out across the pitch. Despite a valiant effort, it wasn’t to be for the Tag Slagz with a 4-1 win for Yorkshire side – Baa Baa City. The final was a great display of top quality Tag Rugby and a fitting match to have as the 72nd and final game of the day.

The games were facilitated by 10 referees from Coventry, Yorkshire, Sheffield, Wigan & Edinburgh. A great standard of refereeing was commented on by many players showing their appreciation for our Heroes in Yellow following the games. Edinburgh’s Liv Murray was voted as ‘Referee of the Day’ by playing teams.

Following the games, players enjoyed music from Archie & Friends in the sun with drinks at Portobello RFC Clubhouse. The party then moved to Dropkick Murphy’s in Edinburgh city centre where players danced the night away with a special guest appearance of a Bagpiper to top off a great day!

We would like to thank all the players, referees, staff/volunteers and partners who helped make history and were part of our first ever TagFest Edinburgh! The event will be an annual event and we look forward to welcoming everybody back for an even bigger and better event next year! Keep your eyes out towards the end of this year for the TTR 2024 event calendar and make sure to put the TagFest Edinburgh 2024 date firmly in your diaries!

PHOTOS
Photos from the day can be found here. Many thanks to our photographer Scott Brayford (lapsoftheearth).

WINNERS
A summary of the Champions and award winners can be seen below:

Cup Champions: Baa Baa City

Cup Player of the Final: Henry Longhurst

Cup Male Player of the Tournament: Chris Griffiths (We’re All in this Tag-ether)

Cup Female Player of the Tournament: Jessie Smith (Baa Baa City)

Plate Champions: Pandas

Plate Player of the Final: Ian Naylor (Panda’s)

Plate Male Player of the Tournament: Ian Naylor (Panda’s)

Plate Female Player of the Tournament: Erin Davies (Scottish Unicorns)

Bowl Champions: The Joy of Tagging

Bowl Player of the Final: Gracy Mahony (The Joy of Tagging)