Mens National Touch Series and Womens National Touch Series – 2023 explained

With a new year comes a new format for the Mens National Touch Series and Womens National Touch Series, which will be played out during the weekends of May 20-21 and June 3-4, 2023, with both events at Banbury RFC.

In acknowledgement of the two distinct competitions, England Touch has streamlined these into two National Touch Series, rather than the previous sub-sets of the Mens and Womens NTS.

Furthermore, rather than the previous ‘Elite’ and ‘Development’ versions, there will now be just one Mens NTS and one Womens NTS, broken down into Divisions 1, 2 and 3. All event days will have one field live streamed.

Divisions 1 and 2 have their own format on the Saturday of each weekend, which recognises the role that Mens and Womens competition plays within the England Touch structure. This includes:

• 16 Mens and 16 Womens teams tiered into Divisions 1 and 2 based on their finishing positions in 2022. Each division has eight teams (2 x pools of four)
• Divisions 1 and 2 will be played across Events 1 and 2. Event 1 will have the pool stages, with Event 2 having the knockout stages. Teams will have three matches on each day
• All matches will last 40 minutes
• Teams enter the Series as a whole, not individual events, paying a £200 deposit by 12/02/23

To recognise Division 3’s role as a development competition, this will have two separate competitions with league points awarded at the end of each competition. The overall winner will be whoever sits top of the league after Events 1 and 2, which will both be on the Sunday of each weekend.

• There is no requirement to enter both event days
• Individual competition formats will depend on the number of teams entered on each day
• A maximum of 28 teams across both competitions on each event day
• Teams will play either five or six 20-minute games per event
• Teams can secure their place in Divisions 3 and 4 with a £100 deposit per event, payable by 12/02/23

Event charges

Divisions 1 and 2 (invite only)

£200 deposit per team payable for the series 12/02/23
£400 per team balance due by 09/04/23

Division 1 and 2 teams have been emailed with more information

Divisions 3 and 4

Round 1

£100 deposit payable per team by 12/02/23
£200 per team balance due by 09/04/23

Round 2

£100 deposit payable per team by 12/02/23
£200 per team balance due by 09/04/23

Teams can secure their places by paying their deposits via their JustGo membership portal. If there are any issues being experienced or clubs have any questions then email Aisling Musgrove (Events Manager) via events.manager@englandtouch.org.uk