Rugby heads to the surf

Beach Fives is the latest innovation in Wairarapa-Bush rugby.
A total of 18 teams will compete for the Wairarapa-Bush and Sports Resources Beach Fives Shield in a tournament to be played at Riversdale Beach tomorrow night.
WBRFU rugby development officer Lofty Stevenson said teams would consist of five players only with games being played for five minutes each way in an area of about 20m square.
Each team would play a minimum of three games with that number stretching to five for those who make the semis and final.
Stevenson said Beach Fives was an ideal way to improve the fitness of players as the start of the 2006 club season approaches
"Games might be only 10 minutes long, but on soft sand they will certainly test the fitness," he said.
Stevenson said the relatively small area of the playing ground would mean, that the emphasis would be on passing and handling skills and that the smaller, quicker players would not necessarily have an advantage over, say, front row forwards
"The bigger guys would only need to get a full head of steam up to be hard to stop," he said. "First up tackles will be vital, that's for sure."
Kick-off for the first round of matches tomorrow night is 6.15pm with the winning team overall receiving over $2000 worth of playing gear courtesy of Sports Resources. Tui Brweries will also provide substantial prizes for teams making the semi-finals and finals.