Clapham Common in London is the venue this weekend for the final selection trials for the England Touch Rugby teams aiming to defend their European Championship titles in France in July.

Two regional trials in Nottingham and Bath saw the highest turnout of players in the history of England Touch, demonstrating the growing popularity of the sport of Touch Rugby.

More than 150 players from around the country received top level coaching and made themselves eligible for the European Championships taking place in Massey, Paris on July 11-13, 2008.

The final selection, featuring 91 players (33 women, 58 men), will take place at Clapham Common, London SW4, on the morning of Sunday February 10 (9.30am to 12pm).

At the last European Championships in 2006 - held in Edinburgh - England won each of the three open Grades (Men, Women and Mixed). The 2008 European Championships will see England up against teams including Wales, Scotland, France, Germany, Switzerland and the Netherlands.

Mike Abromowitz, technical director of the England Touch Association, said: "We were delighted to see so many potential England players attending the regional trials.

"Touch is one of the fastest growing sports in England and one in which England consistently excels, both at a European and world level.

"The calibre of new players attending the trials gives me confidence that we will once again be the nation to beat at this year's European Championships, giving us a strong base on which to build towards the World Cup in 2011."

Touch is one of the few team sports where men and women can compete in teams together not only socially but at an international level.

There are approximately 12,000 people playing touch in organised leagues around the UK including: Aberdeen, Basingstoke, Bath, Bristol, Cambridge, Canterbury, Cardiff, Carmarthen, Chesham, Derby, Dundee, Edinburgh, Leicester, London, Manchester, North Manchester, Northumbria, Nottingham, Oxford, Pontyclun, Reading, Swansea, Tonbridge and Windsor.