On Sunday Twickenham witnessed a fantastic game of Super Rugby that served to help out Christchurch, who were hit by an earthquake recently. A try and report has already been posted, but here’s longer highlights.
While the goal of the match was to raise funds for Christchurch’s relief effort, the fixture has been criticised in some circles as accusations have been made of it being simply a commercial venture, ‘dressed up in charity clothing’.
Indeed, it was said this week that after all expenses were covered, the amount of funding that will be heading in New Zealand’s direction was a little disappointing. A percentage of gate revenue is meant to be going towards the Red Cross Christchurch Earthquake fund.
“The idea that this was a purely a commercial venture is nonsense,” said the RFU.
“Hosting this game at Twickenham was about English rugby showing its support for the rugby family in New Zealand and the people of Christchurch who had been affected by the earthquake.
“The match and related fund-raising will have raised over 1 million for the Red Cross Christchurch Earthquake fund and the RFU intends to donate all profit we made for hosting the game to charities in both New Zealand and Japan.”
There has been plenty of speculation about whether or not the fixture will be repeated after a healthy 35 094 turned up to witness a high quality game of rugby. At this stage it’s unclear, as some of the English clubs felt it took away from their games.
Whatever the case, those who watched the full game, at the venue or on TV, will know that it was one of the best show pieces of rugby of the season. Speed, skill, and physicality, as well as a determined comeback, this game had it all.
On a sidenote, there will be no Pick of the Week best tries video this week, but next week it will include two rounds of tries packed into one.
Time: 06:02
Sign In