Celtic Crusaders v Halifax CRL
On the 29th March 2008 a special milestone of tag rugby league was passed. Halifax travelled to South Wales to play a Celtic Crusaders team mainly put together from rugby union players and new players to rugby league.
The score finished
Celtic Crusaders 18 v 66 Halifax Community RL
Tag rugby league was given an international flavour on Saturday, as Celtic Crusaders hosted Halifax Community RL at the Recreation Ground, Bridgend Wales.
The game was seen as an exhibition sevens match, and Halifax’s experience showed as they put their Welsh counterparts to the sword, running in 13 tries in uncompromising conditions. On a heavy pitch in blustery conditions, it was a credit to Halifax’s ball handling skills that they posted such a high score. Credit must go to Celtic, who were playing their first Rugby League game as a team, and there were positive signs they will do well in the future.
The stars of the show for Fax were Sean Rothery and Geordie Watson, who both ran in hat tricks. Rothery showed great pace and attacking nerve to score his tries, and Watson’s effort was all the more pleasing after suffering from illness on the arduous trip to South Wales.
Other try scorers were Mike Haigh (2) who also converted 4 tries to end the game with a 16 point hall, Pete Jones, Steve Sparks, Phil O’Reilly and Rick Ambler who finished the game with 14 points after also converting 5 tries, to give Halifax their 66-18 victory.
Other notable contributions came from fleet-footed Nathaniel Greenwood, imposing Gareth Rothery and secure ball-handler Phil Whitaker.
Halifax host Featherstone on 13th April in their second Scrum Down Under Tag Merit League fixture, and will hope for victory to follow up their opening day victory at York to remain at the top of the league table.
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