Wales Touch Association

Touch Rugby began in Sydney in the 1960’s but it didn’t come to Wales until the 1990’s when New Zealander David Swain set up a tournament at Cardiff High School Old Boys RFC. A total of 24 male teams separated through three divisions played in the 10-week tournament in 1991 and that was the birth of touch in Wales. The Cardiff tournament is still going strong and has grown since that first iteration.

 

Dave, along with Paul Nepia, also set up a Swansea tournament that ran for two years at the Swansea Uplands RFC, welcoming 16 different teams. Paul and another New Zealander, Moro Smith also established the top men’s touch team in Britain, Kiwi Dragons.

 

Sadly, Paul suffered an early tragic death in 1998 due to an asthma attack, leaving behind a wife Joanne and two children Kowhai and Rhiannon.

 

From the beginning, Dave Swain organised representative teams from Wales to play in tournaments in London alongside teams from England, Scotland, Ireland, France and expatriates from New Zealand, Australia, Samoa and South Africa. In these early tournaments, Wales were the leading European nation at both mixed and men’s open divisions.

 

The Welsh Touch Association (WTA) was formally constituted by Neil Perkins, Gwion Kennard, Matthew Enoch, Dave Swain and Dean Kidd. Neil also help to establish the European Touch Association, now known as the European Federation of Touch (EFT) and has since served as the Welsh representative within the organisation.

 

It was in 1999 that the WTA attended it’s first Touch World Cup, sending a men’s and mixed open team to the event in Sydney. The WTA have been represented at all of the subsequent Touch World Cups.