Saracens fan wins 250 000 in the ultimate Crossbar Challenge

Last night young Stuart Tinner took home a 250 000 jackpot after completing a crossbar challenge at halftime in front of 46 000 people at Wembley.

The stadium erupted as Tinner, wearing socks to make the kick, hit the crossbar with his first attempt during halftime of Saracens 24-23 win over South Africa.

Tinner, 24, is a job centre worker from Hertfordshire and still lives at home with his parents. Hes a hooker for Welwyn RFC fifth team.

He was chosen at random, along with two others, after sending in a text message while sitting in the stands.

"I guess I just kicked it as hard as I could and I don't really believe what happened. If you're going to feel the ball then you can't have shoes on. You've got to really get a feel for the ball.

"I have already spoken to my parents and they told me to keep my feet on the ground. They saw it on television," he said.

Saracens are on a huge marketing drive to get more people to get to watch the matches live. This season theyre staging four matches at Wembley in an attempt to increase their supporter base.

Tinner hitting the crossbar will have done wonders in terms of media attention. Saracens did apparently take out insurance to cover the competition prize.

"What we try and do at Wembley is to provide a great game of rugby and extra - and with a guy winning quarter of a million at half-time, we had something a lot of people will remember," said Saracens chief executive Ed Griffiths.

"It's an amazing feeling, I'm still in a daze. It won't change me, I'm still going to work in the morning but what a night it's been. I support Saracens but I don't get to see them very frequently but you can put me down as a season-ticket holder now," Tinner enthused.

"This is the second best day of my life - the best was when I lost my virginity."

Superb.

Posted at 2:07 pm | 41 comments

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