Rugby of the Legends variety has featured in Out On The Full before, I've no doubt that you all remember the match that provided us with Steve Thompson's greatest ever try or the recent encounter the night before England took on Ireland for BOD's last hurrah at Twickenham. Needless to say that our experienced players always deliver therefore it won't surprise you to know that when I heard about the fact there is a whole day dedicated to Legends Rugby I was intrigued to find out more.
The Legends Rugby Festival is now in its second year after a hugely successful launch in 2013 and once again this year's event will take place at
Wimbledon RFC. The festival itself sees the top Aviva Premiership clubs compete
against each other to win the Paladin Legends Trophy and already Wasps,
London Irish, Bristol, Saracens, Leicester Tigers, Worcester, Gloucester, Harlequins, Northampton and London Welsh have all confirmed teams and
more are set to compete for the crown.
The festival is specifically tailored
for our Legends in terms of the fact that the matches are 10 minutes each way so not to burn the lungs
too much and there are two types of competition to suit all needs; The Champagne
League takes itself a little more seriously whereas the aptly named Beer League
has the motto ‘It Is All About The Craic’!!
As you would expect the tournament
is extremely family orientated and will have a range of activities and events going on all day; there will be Mini’s tournament, Kids Fun Zone, Family Tag Rugby tournament, a Fancy Dress Competition
and naturally once the hard work is over there will be an evening of entertainment to raise your glass (pint or otherwise) too. The post tournament entertainment continues into the evening with Jelly Hammer and Me & Mr Brown, I can't say that I'm well acquainted with their work but I've no doubt that with so many rugby legends letting off steam after a hard day of work it will be a great evening', very much in-keeping with the 'Legends' theme.
The Festival has some great longstanding
and extremely well known ambassadors who are integral to making it a
huge success; Leon Lloyd, Serge Betsen, Dafydd James, Phil Greening and this year they are joined
by Catherine Spencer to raise the profile of the Womens 7’s competition that
also take place on the day. Those of you who have the pleasure to meet Serge Betsen will know that he does not mince his words and really says it as it is so for the tournament to have gained his love says a lot about what to expect;
“The Legends Rugby Festival is a unique event that truly highlights the spirit of rugby. Last summer was a huge success and it was great to see so many of the old faces back on the pitch! I’m really excited to be involved for the second year running.”
“The Legends Rugby Festival is a unique event that truly highlights the spirit of rugby. Last summer was a huge success and it was great to see so many of the old faces back on the pitch! I’m really excited to be involved for the second year running.”
So there you have it... The Legends Rugby Festival at Wimbledon RFC on 12th July. It will be a day filled with sunshine, predicted, and Legends, guaranteed, with Lewis Moody, Neil Back confirmed and strong rumours that Brian Moore might be playing you'd be mad to miss such a day! One of the Legends Festival's partners the School Of Hard Knocks Charity is having a pre tournament party the night before at Wimbledon RFC, so I hope to see you there before a day of action packed Legends Rugby on the Saturday!
SOHK Summer Party Friday 11th July 6pm onwards. The Legends Festival, Wimbledon RFC, Saturday 12th July. Gates open 9.30am http://legendsrugby.co.uk
