BOSCOMBE will host the first international beach rugby tournament to be played in Britain.

Rugby coach Barty Hills, 29, is organising the inaugural event, which will take place in June.

The 5s tournament, sanctioned by the European Beach Rugby Association (EBRA), will see teams of men and women from across the world battle it out on the beach.

The fast action game differs from traditional rugby as when the ball carrier goes into contact with an opponent, or is tackled by an opponent, they must pass or release the ball within two seconds.

Barty, who was born in Poole but now lives in Herefordshire, set up his own rugby team, The Flair Bears, in 2009 after recovering from a brain tumour operation.

They played in various tournaments across the globe before discovering the beach rugby 5s tournament.

“In 2011, we were looking around for a different tournament and came across beach rugby – the stadium on the beach was what sold it for me. We’d never played it before, but it was the best tournament we’ve ever been to,” he said.

“It is an unbelievably challenging tournament – a completely different format of the game. It’s faster, with tries back and forth – it gets really tiring.”

Barty was determined to bring the international tournament to the UK and could not think of a better venue than one of Dorset’s beaches.

“Although I looked at Sandbanks initially, due to its size, Boscombe beach suited the event much better,” he said.

“Since then, I’ve been working with the council and am now inviting teams and sponsors to sign up – it’s really exciting. It’s huge for EBRA to host a tournament here as well, what with England being the creator of rugby.”

The event, which will take place on June 17 and 18, will also help to raise money for the charity brainstrust, which supported Barty and his family during his ordeal.

The tournament will have space for 20 teams (12 men’s teams and eight women’s teams) who will play throughout the weekend, with a closing ceremony on the Sunday evening.

To enter a team, or to sponsor the event, contact Barty at barty@britishbeachrugby.com.