On Saturday, we were fortunate enough to host the northern-based Visually Impaired Touch Rugby team, Stockport Women and Wilmslow rugby teams for a few games of Touch rugby.

Our Marple players had exclusively experienced turn-up and play games on Monday nights, so we were looking forward to some more organised 7-a-side games with a referee. What we didn't realise is that we'd also be given an idea of what it's like to play with a visual impairment.

The VI team came armed with a box of goggles that simulated the visual loss of their players and asked us to select 2 or 3 players to wear the goggles when we played them. Fortunately for us, we weren't playing the 1st game of the day, so we rummaged through the box, trying on the various googles and attempted to catch balls thrown at us.

It's important not to overstate the experience of playing in the googles, after all, we are not living with a visual impairment and took them off after the game. But as one of the VI team joked, it was quite an eye-opener. It was difficult to adjust to playing in the goggles, but it was not impossible, and it was certainly still a fun experience. It helped us to appreciate the adaptability of the VI team players, but it also showed us that the game is playable for people with a visual impairment.

If you've stumbled across this and are from another club, please do seek out the VI Team, who base themselves at Stockport Rugby Club, and invite them over for a game.