Following an extensive review of the 2023 UK Tag Nationals, and after careful collaboration across all Try Tag Rugby regions, the first phase of the 2024 tournament is today being launched!

Coaching Applications
At this stage prospective coaches are encouraged to submit applications to their Regional Managers ahead of the player nomination window opening at the end of October. Incumbent 2023 coaches should also contact their Regional Manager if they wish to confirm their interest in continuing for the 2024 tournament. These applications of interest should be submitted by Monday 23rd October. Details on the role of the coach can be found here.

New Teams and Categories
Following the successful inaugural year for the Great Britain Women’s 35s that culminated in a World Cup bronze medal, an aligned category will be introduced for the UK Tag Nationals. The category will be called Women’s 33s and will be open to all women who will turn 33 on or before 31st December 2024.

The Men’s 40s category is also being renamed to Men’s 38s and is open to all men who will turn 38 on or before 31st December 2024.

Try Tag Rugby is delighted that Brighton & Hove is intending to enter teams into the 2024 tournament and looks forward to welcoming the Dolphins to the ever expanding Nationals family.

Key Information
TTR is in advanced discussions with a non-London host for the 2024 tournament and hopes to be in a position to announce this very shortly. The dates and venues of the three Regional Tournaments are all confirmed and can be found in the brief below.

The full UK Tag Nationals brief for coaches and players is available at the link and includes a full timeline of the 2024 UK Tag Nationals as well as extensive details on all aspects of the tournament relating to coaching, player nomination and selection, training, kit and fees: click here. 

Review Findings
The review of the 2023 tournament was an in depth process that engaged stakeholders at every level of the UK Tag Nationals process. Encouragingly the player feedback reported that the 2023 tournament compared favourably to those that players have been involved in before.

Key findings from the review process included the following:

  • The majority of stakeholders and regions want the tournament to remain a single day tournament, however there is a clear desire for longer matches that will necessitate a further review of the subject and a move toward a two day tournament in future years
  • An overwhelming majority were in favour of continuing the current tournament format with single and mixed gender on the same day and categories progressing from pools to knockouts rather than starting in tiered divisions
  • The Regional Tournaments were seen as a success in 2023 and so will return in 2024 with the addition of a London edition
  • The most popular category to be added was a Women’s senior age grade category which will happen in the form of the Women’s 33s
  • There was a desire for coach applications and appointments to be considered annually and before player nominations which is why the 2024 tournament is being launched with a coaching application process
  • 12 was considered the ideal size for a tournament squad with larger training squads being seen as a positive addition. However it was clear that players only involved in the training squads didn’t want to buy kit. As a result injury reserves are being introduced for 2024 in an effort to preserve training squad sizes but avoid the purchasing of kit that may not be used at Nationals itself. We do not feel that this model is perfect but we will trial in for 2024 and conduct another review following it
  • On the question of how often kit designs should be released, the preference was to maintain the two yearly cycle
  • Player feedback indicated a preference for training costs to be adhoc rather than built into the overall tournament fee

Core 2024 UK Tag Nationals Management Personnel:

  • UK Tag Nationals Director – Will Shepherd
  • Brighton & Hove Dolphins – Steph McCabe
  • Bristol Brabazons – Jamie Dinning
  • Coventry & Warwickshire Hurricanes – Troy Perkins & Alan Robinson
  • Edinburgh Highlanders – Clodagh Nic Lochlainn
  • East London Eels – Dan Sherman & Fran Hales
  • North London Nighthawks – Paul Evitt
  • Manchester Worker Bees – Adam Johnson
  • Sheffield Storm – Joe Barker
  • South London Seals – Ben Shanahan-Sanders
  • Thames Valley Titans – Roger Rebelo
  • West London Wolves – Juan Cucchi & Ciara Langtry
  • Wigan Wizards – Dylan Barlow
  • Yorkshire White Roses – Bobby Domville & Lewis Cadman

Contact details for your Regional Manager can be found in the coach & player brief.