Exciting weekend in Oyonnax for Suisse Rugby U16 & U18

  • National Teams
  • 12 Feb 2023

Almost 60 youngsters from the U16 & U18 team gathered the second weekend of February in France for friendly games against Oyonnax Rugby Club.

27 U16 and 27 U18 players from all over Switzerland were able to participate in a training camp with the Oyonnax Rugby club on February 11-12, 2023 in France. The Swiss players were able to discover the facilities of this professional club and train in the best conditions on Saturday, followed by a friendly game against the U16 and U18 teams of Oyonnax on Sunday. The Oyonnax teams play at the highest level of öf rugby in France 

Great commitment showed by U16 youngsters

For the U16s, the first part of the game was difficult, the speed of the opponents and the technical deficiencies notably on the tackles and the individual ball losses did not allow to compete with Oyonnax. The end of the game was more balanced thanks to the superior commitment of our Swiss players.

U18 boys competing strongly on intensity

The U18s were able to compete for a long time with Oyonnax. However, the lack of match experience of this intensity put our team in difficulty from the 30th minute. As for the U18s, the end of the game was of better quality.

For both Swiss teams, the lack of matches at this level but especially the lack of weekly training (Oyonnax players train between 3 and 4 times more than our Swiss players) explains the difference to the team from Oyonnax. However, many of the U16 & U18 players have shown real qualities  - intensyfied and more regular trainings are a must to compete on a higher level of rugby though.