At the end of May – Asa Tel Aviv women’s rugby team – couched by Micah Lissy – competed in Dendermonde 10's tournament in Belgium. The trip was organized by the team managers – Hila Vetcher and Dana Paran, and with the great help of Irit Aharonson. Prior to the tournament we played a full 15’s game against the local Belgium team La – Hulpe : the Belgium’s league champions for the past few years. Some of the girls on the team have been playing rugby for less then a year , but even for the veteran players playing 15’s is a rare event . (The only other 15’s games were played in Ireland 2 years ago and in the Netherlands last year) . On this trip we could put together a full 22 women’s team thanks to the growths of the team this past year. The game was thrilling and fun and it seemed like 80 minutes past in a flash. Although the game ended with a Belgium victory 22-5 we received many compliments on our game , and no doubt had we have had more game experience the result would have been different . The game was also attended by Israeli’s who live in Belgium and heard about the game on the local Jewish news. At the end of the game, following rugby tradition, both teams went to the local pub together for a night of singing and beer. The following day, we left for Dendermonde for the opening day of the tournament, where 14 women’s and 18 men’s rugby clubs from all over Europe and the states competed. On the first day we plated 4 games that determent our seeding for the following day. As the games went on and we acquired “match time” you could see the improvement of our team. On the second day of the tournament our games were very tight and ended on the smallest margins. We ended the tournament in the 13th place. This is the second time the team has competed in this tournament and there is no doubt our level and knowledge of the game improved a lot and is reaching the level of some of the European teams. In the trophy ceremony special note was given to the Israeli team for coming to the tournament despite the “security problems” proving that rugby conquers all. Through out the tournament the team was given a lot of support from all around and got a lot of notice by everyone. By the end of the tournament everyone was wearing our blue shirts, following the traditional jersey exchange. The whole rugby week was an amazing experience for the girls who this was there first trip with the team, as for the girls that this was there second and third time round. From the stop in Budapest, the 15’s game and the tournament it self, you could feel the special “rugby atmosphere “that surrounded everyone and so much was talked about ….. Now that we are back in Israel , back to routine life and practice we can only look to the future and hope for a 7’s tournament in Israel , a full 15’s game against another team and of course – our next trip !! Check out our photos from the tour!