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Rugby Spirit Eat Sand 3the Winner

Whilst less well informed sports fans were concentrating on British Lions, Queens Club, or 20-20 Cricket, those in the know were heading for the Inner Hebrides to enjoy one of the great sporting and social events of the year.

It is the biggest single event held on the small island with a total of 1500 people attending the Eat Sand! 3 festival including an unprecedented 32 rugby teams, 10 of which were ladies teams.

As the renown of this rugby festival has spread, the standard of teams attending (selected by invitation) has increased, resulting in the quality of rugby reaching a very high level.

Organised by Islay Rugby Club, and supported by Bruichladdich Distillery (http://www.bruichladdich.com), the festival atmosphere is superb, with families picnicking, girlfriends sunbathing, children paddling.

            

The games took place on Port Ellen'ss beach's160;in front of the White Hart Hotel where a tented village for the 500 competitors and associates had sprung up on Friday evening.

The's160;3 sand pitches, uniquely interpreted by Islay Beach Rugby, are only 25 metres by 20 metres. The onus is thus on physical confrontation as well as dextrous ball-handling.

The two halves were only four minutes each, but the lack of purchase on the sand under bare feet, and the speed of the game made for unusually exhilarating, if's160;exhausting, sport.'s160;

Eat sand! becomes an occupational hazard. Islay Rugby Club president Simon Coughlin, a director of Bruichladdich Distillery, explains: The sand is such a great leveler.

It surprises the bigger teams that come here; a's160;number of Premier One players said these games were as tough as anything they had experienced during the regular season.

Because there is little space, simply being clever is not going to get you too far.'s160;Okay, a good pass might create a bit of space, but you have to muscle it too.

The Laddie Cup winner's160;was Black Bottle, an invitational team,'s160;beating Loch's160;Lomand 9-4 in the final. The's160;Lassie Cup winner was Hillhead,'s160;beating's160;Cartha Queen'ss Park 7-1. 's160;High resolution images here (http://web.me.com/markreynier)

In's160;the secondary competitions, for the runner up teams knocked out in the group stages, the men'ss shield's160;was won by's160;Kilchoman Distillery and the bowl by Trinity Muir.

A dance on Friday and a ceilidh on Saturday after the tournament were both packed to the rafters, with post-match celebrations carrying on late in to the night.'s160;

The festival is as much a social event as a rugby gathering: a classic Islay event that is both raucous, laid-back, and a wild time - yet everyone behaves themselves.

Police were pleasantly surprised to witness such a large number of people enduring so much high-octane partying without a single incident at the Bruichladdich sponsored event.

But this is the rugby way: 's160;32 teams of players, some meeting for the first time, others renewing old acquaintances, united under Islay spirit and's160;rugby ethos.

The 2010 tournament takes place on 12th June - teams wishing to be considered for participation should register at Islay Beach Rugby (http://www.islaybeachrugby.com)

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