York International 9s is an international

rugby league nines Rugby league nines (or simply nines) is a version of rugby league football played with nine players on each side. The game is substantially the same as full rugby league, with some differences in rules and shorter games. Nines is usually played in ...

tournament taking place in

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. It is held at Heworth ARLC's Elmpark Way ground on the north east side of the city. The 2007 tournament took place on Saturday 14 July. The tournament was first held in 2002 as part of City of York Council's Queen's Golden Jubilee celebrations. The competition was awarded a 5* rating from the

Rugby League European Federation The European Rugby League (ERL) is the Umbrella organization, umbrella body for nations playing the sport of rugby league football across Europe. In the absence of other continental federations, ERL also controls rugby league in North America (in ...

and was the first nines event in Europe. The tournament last took place in 2009.

Format

The 2007 event has been streamlined with all the competitions taking place on one day rather than two, and eight teams, rather than 12, competing in the Fairfax Cup. The new competition format has the eight teams split into two pools of four, with the top two from each group qualifying for the semi-finals. The bottom two in each group will compete in play-offs to determine finishing positions fifth to eighth. In 2009 the RFL invited the Combined Services Referees Society to send officials from all three services to participate. On the day, five officials took part including one who flew in from Germany alongside officials from the RFL.

Teams taking part

Fairfax Cup
Group 1:

York City Knights The York Knights are the men's professional rugby league team of York RLFC (known as the York City Knights from 2002 to 2022) based in York, England. The Knights played their home games at Huntington Stadium before moving to Bootham Crescent. ...

, York Ironsides, Espagne Origine, Lyon-Villeurbanne-Rhone
Group 2:

Dewsbury Rams The Dewsbury Rams are a professional English rugby league club based in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire that compete in the Championship. They play their home games at the Tetley's Stadium, on Owl Lane. The Rams' main fanbase comes from their hometo ...

, The Army, FC Lézignan XIII, The Ambassadors Archbishop Dolben Cup
Group 1: Police Sport UK, Beach Boys, York RUFC, Royal Navy
Group 2:

Featherstone Rovers Featherstone Rovers are a professional rugby league club in Featherstone, West Yorkshire, England, who play in the Championship. Featherstone is a former coal mining town with a population of around 16,000 and Rovers are one of the last "smal ...

, Royal Air Force, York Tigers,

Broughton Rangers Broughton Rangers were one of the twenty-one rugby clubs which met at the George Hotel, Huddersfield, in 1895 to form the Northern Rugby Football Union. They were originally based in Broughton, Salford, but in 1933 moved to Gorton, Manchester ...

Trophies

Teams from England, France and in previous years from Russia compete for the Fairfax Cup, named after

Sir Thomas Fairfax Thomas Fairfax, 3rd Lord Fairfax of Cameron (17 January 161212 November 1671), also known as Sir Thomas Fairfax, was an English politician, general and Parliamentary commander-in-chief during the English Civil War. An adept and talented command ...

. In recent years, this has recently begun to feature professional teams from the National Leagues. First competed for in 2006, the Archbishop Dolben cup is competed for by "development teams" that are not considered strong enough to take part in the main Fairfax cup. Many of the teams represent the military services of the UK. There is also a junior grade

Marston Moor The Battle of Marston Moor was fought on 2 July 1644, during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms of 1639 – 1653. The combined forces of the English Parliamentarians under Lord Fairfax and the Earl of Manchester and the Scottish Covenanters un ...

competition for York and District schools. It is named after the English Civil War battle between Cavaliers and Roundheads. Preliminary rounds will take place on Wednesday 14 June at Heworth Rugby Club. The semi finals and final will then be part of the York International 9s Festival. From 2007, the competition will be expanded to include secondary schools.

Past winners

Fairfax cup

* 2002 London KooGas * 2003 Lezignan - Corbieres XIII * 2004 West Indies Wahoos * 2005 East Hull * 2006

* 2007 The Ambassadors * 2008 York Ironsides * 2009 Police Sport UK

Archbishop Dolben cup

* 2006 Police Sport UK * 2007 Police Sport UK * 2008

Fife Lions Fife Lions ARLFC are a rugby league club located in Fife, Scotland. They play in the Scottish National League. The Fife Lions in recent years have been one of the dominant teams in the SRLC. Winning their maiden premiership in 2004, the Lion ...

* 2009 Royal Dragoon Guards

Marston Moor cup

* 2002 Ralph Butterfield Primary School * 2003 St. Oswalds Primary School * 2004 Ralph Butterfield Primary School * 2005 Wigginton Primary School * 2006 Woodthorpe Primary School * 2007 Year 6: Clifton Without Junior School, Year 7: Canon Lee School, Year 8: King James School, Year 9: Barlby High School, Year 10:

Joseph Rowntree School The Joseph Rowntree School is a comprehensive school on Haxby Road in New Earswick in the unitary authority City of York, England. Admissions The school is just north of Huntington, close to the A1237 bypass, the Foss Walk, and the River Fo ...

* 2008

References

{{reflist

External links

Official site

York 9s on What's on in York
School sport in the United Kingdom Sport in York Rugby league nines competitions in the United Kingdom Youth sport in England