Tournament survives - results are blown away

THE Six Nations has the same commitment, huge crowds and players desperate to impress. But it does not tend to endure the same weather and travel problems which threatened to blight the Guernsey Mini/Youth festival, sponsored by Lloyds TSB and VisitGuernsey, which took place over the weekend.

The event lost teams and supporters as a result of Friday's fog followed by Saturday's gale force winds.

Two teams from Tunbridge Wells in Kent failed to make it - though one did - after their flight was cancelled.

The team from Bridport in Hampshire enjoyed plenty of success on the pitch yesterday. But they were forced to switch ports and ferries in a battle to get to the island on Saturday. They finally managed to do so, eight hours late, at 6pm.

'We're grateful to them for making the effort,' said Dave Parish, the director of mini youth rugby. An extra match was tagged on to the end of the weekend as the Bridport under-12s took on a Channel Islands select team.

'They made the effort for us, so we can give them something back.'

'I've never known a boat trip like it,' said one parent accompanying the Kingsbridge under-15 side from South Devon. 'I've never been seasick before but that was something else.'

The festival, in its seventh year, was still considered a success despite unfriendly weather. When the sun did shine, it was generally accompanied by howling winds, which further complicated proceedings when one gust caught all the match reports and documentation from the event and spread half of it over Les Varendes.

A marquee erected as a changing cover during the event blew down overnight on Saturday.

'I'm very pleased with the weekend, despite everything the weather threw at us,' said Parish.

'Blue sky and sun is what people want to remember about coming to Guernsey.'

The festival hosted young age group teams from Jersey and sides from Tunbridge Wells, Bridport, Kingsbridge, Loughborough, and Embley Park School in Romsey.

The youngest age group played tag rugby and the complexities of the games increased to proper matches on full-sized pitches for 14-year-olds and above.