In total 11 players from Zug U16 team were invited to join a Switzerland squad travelling to Oyonnax in France on the weekend of 28/29 May. Nine players were able to take up the invite and had a great weekend which included two training sessions at the Oyonnax Rugby Academy and a match on Sunday 29th against Oyonnax.
The whole squad was given a very warm welcome by the French National Div 2 club, who finished 3rd in the D2 league, with the Swiss squad making great use of the excellent facilities to train on Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning ahead of the Sunday afternoon match.
The Switzerland team put up a great show and went ahead, by a converted try under the posts, straight from the kick-off with some quick hands and sharp running lines. Oyonnax recovered composure quickly and were more organised in the middle of the match to take a lead of 22 - 7 with 20 minutes to play. A spirited come back by the Swiss players saw a flourish of late scores but they were only able to come back to 22 - 19. A very good result given the short amount of preparation time they had as a squad against a very well drilled Oyonnax team.
Well done to all who were invited and to those who played and showed a great team spirit with their fellow players from across Switzerland.
Pictured: Miles Harrison, Ricky Cronson, Ben Minacci, Tom Homeister, Tom Astridge, Peter Craig, Zac Needham, Leo Duport, Raphael Escola (also invited: Ollie Newman, William Widerberg)