Great Britain Tag Rugby team prepares for World Cup in Australia
The Great Britain Tag Rugby team is preparing to compete in the World Cup in Australia, with players training in Leeds and London before the tournament.
The Full Story
A plain summary built from the channels that reported this story.
The Great Britain Tag Rugby team is preparing to compete in a World Cup in Australia. The tournament is taking place alongside the Rugby League World Cup, and it is a global contest for a gentler version of rugby. Tag Rugby is non-contact. Players wear tags in their shorts, and opponents try to rip them off instead of tackling.
The sport evolved from touch rugby, which began as a rugby league training exercise for players in Australia in the 1960s. In the 1980s and 1990s, players in Gibraltar and the north of England added tags to make it more like rugby league. There are no rugby posts, only a try line. It is seven-a-side, not 13-a-side, but teams still get six tackles before possession changes. A tackle is when a tag is removed from a player's shorts. This is designed to reduce injury risk. One player said she broke her nose a couple of years ago at the British and Irish Cup, but injuries are significantly less common. The sprint-stop nature of the game also gives it a high cardio demand.
The squad includes players from different backgrounds. One is a former gymnast, Georgina, who grew up doing gymnastics and American cheerleading. At five foot one, she had thought full-contact rugby was not for her. She is in Australia this weekend hoping to win a World Cup for Great Britain. Others are new to rugby, while some had to give up contact sport because of injury or age. Players said pulling on a national shirt for a World Cup felt like an absolute dream. One said they had been training for three years with this goal in mind.
The team has been training in Leeds and London. A local league match in Leeds featured some of the GB team going through their paces ahead of the World Cup for various age groups. For first-time players, the basics include tucking a shirt into shorts so the tags can be seen. The game is inclusive regardless of age, stature, size or experience. Thousands of people now play Tag Rugby around the UK. Australia, the dominant team at the last World Cup finals and now the hosts, will once again be the team to beat. The British players hope their years of training will pay off this weekend.
On screen
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Key Claims
Claims reported during this story's coverage, grouped by how many channels reported each one. Select a dot to see the source excerpt.
| Claim |  |
|---|---|
| Only on one channel | |
| Australia is hosting both the Rugby League World Cup and a global Tag Rugby competition. | |
| Tag Rugby originated from touch rugby, which began as a rugby league training exercise in Australia in the 1960s. | |
| The Great Britain Tag Rugby team was met before departing for the World Cup. | |
Channel Perspectives
What each channel focused on, with key quotes.
BBC ONE West ran an upbeat feature on the Great Britain Tag Rugby team before it set off for Australia. It leaned heavily on the sport's accessibility, explaining how the non-contact format appeals to players who are small, older, returning from injury or simply want to avoid being battered. The report also mixed rules explainer, origin story and player interviews, with less focus on competitive detail beyond Australia being the team to beat.
- “It's time to think Tag Rugby.”
- “Well, already I'm seeing how inclusive this is regardless of age, stature, size or experience.”
- “The dominant team at the last World Cup finals, now the hosts. Once again the team to beat”
Broadcast Timeline
News broadcasts tracked for this story, in time order.