In advance of the Rugby Europe Conference League Pool D season getting underway in October 2023, Cyprus Rugby held a pre-season 3-day training camp at Alrincham Kersal RFC ground which culminated in a trial game on Saturday 5 August.
The training camp got underway on Thursday 3 August with the majority of the squad arriving during the course of the day from across the UK together with a number of players who had flown over from Cyprus.
The first session was a joint training period of 90 minutes together with the 1st XV players group from Altrincham Kersal along with the Coaching staff from both teams. It was a good physical session with lots of energy and enthusiasm from both sets of players.
After training everyone retired to the clubhouse for food and rehydration and to plan for the following day's double training sessions.
Friday saw the players and staff assemble at the ground and undertake a quite intense morning training session, which involved some fitness testing, skills and team play. This was all done with an eye on the trial game the following day.
Lunch was taken in the clubhouse and discussions continued about what the season looked like moving forward, the afternoon session and what was expected of the trial game on the Saturday.
Friday was concluded by a light walk though of drills practiced in the morning session and positional play and awareness. Beyond the physical exertion, the training camp emphasised the importance of team building, camaraderie, and support necessary for this group of players to be successful both on and off the pitch.
Game day arrived on Saturday and the typical English summer weather was with us, meaning it was wet although not raining too hard but by the time kick off arrived at 1pm the rain had stopped and it was pleasantly warm providing good conditions for the game.
The game was played as a trial match of 4 x 20 minute periods, which suited both teams as it meant that rolling replacements could be used to have a look at all the players on show, which included a number of new prospects for Cyprus.
The match was a good runout for both teams and some of the rugby played was a good standard considering this was the first pre-season game all the players had played since returning to training.
The final score was Altrincham Kersal RFC 12 – 33 Cyprus Barbarians.
The try scorers for Cyprus Barbarians were George Cosma, Ben Yarrow, Alex Thompson, Andreas Hadjiloizou, Dom Georgiou. Conversions – Dom Georgiou 2, Ben Yarrow 2.
Overall, the training camp was deemed to be a great success as it provided a platform for the team to set their goals and aspirations for the forthcoming season. A number of new players have been identified who can add to the strength in depth of the current squad and take Cyprus Rugby to the next level and solidify their unity as a team.
All the players and staff have learned that their true strength lies in their collective spirit and unwavering determination to make the 2023/2024 season successful.
Our thanks go to Burdett Metals for supporting this training camp, and to all the fans who came along to cheer the teams on.
Ela Kypros!!
Written by Dave Lee, Team Manager
