Highlights from the England v Ireland Rugby Legends Charity Match, 26th February 2016 at The Twickenham Stoop.
Post-match press release
The England, Ireland & Wales Legends Run In Over 110k for charities…
The England Legends, managed by Jason Leonard and recently captained by Lewis Moody are extremely proud to announce monies raised over the last 3 Legends games are in excess of £110k.
The England Legends matches have to date raised over £600,000 for charities since they were established seven years ago by Jason Leonard and Martin Corry.
The England v Wales Legends match, a one-off fixture played at The Stoop on September 25th 2015 fielded stars such as captain Colin Charvis, Shane Williams, Chris Wyatt, Barry Davies, Lee Byrne and Dafydd James – to name just a few. The England v Ireland Match was played at Donnybrook in 2015 and at The Stoop, on 26th February 2016. Ireland Captain was the regular, committed Shane Byrne with team mates such as Shane Jennings, Gordon D’Arcy, Simon Mason, Justin Bishop, Paddy Johns and Mal O’Kelly supporting the cause.
England was captained by Martin Corry in Dublin 2015 and on the last two matches by Lewis Moody; England’s team included rugby heroes such as Mike Tindall, Ugo Monye, Iain Balshaw, Kevin Yates, George Chuter and Ollie Smith.
The England v Ireland match is an annual fixture which alternates between Twickenham and Dublin – played on the eve of the RBS 6 Nations match.
“These games simply would not take place without the commitment from the players, who give their time and their bodies to raise money for our chosen charities”, commented Jason Leonard OBE and President of the RFU. “I would like to take this opportunity to officially thank each player who have volunteered their time to ensure these matches are a huge success – I know what a commitment it is, especially as the bodies get older!”
All funds raised at each match are split equally between England and the opposing team. The Wales benefiting Charity was the WRPA and this year Ireland chosen charities were the IRUPA & the IRFU Charitable Trust. England charities are RPA’s Restart, RFU’s Injured Players foundation & All Schools and The Lewis Moody Foundation.
All England Legends matches are run by Sportingclass in partnership with Harvey Thorneycroft and Jason Leonard. Andy Lee, Owner of Sportingclass said “It’s always such a pleasure to run these very worthy charity matches. The players are unbelievable in their support with their total commitment on the pitch and their engagement with the fans afterwards being well over expected levels. I would also like to thank our sponsors; without them we would be unable to host such memorable events and raise so many necessary funds. Special thanks must go to Validus, Salesforce, Greene King, Canterbury and Gilbert who have supported us over the last seven years.”
