BY JOHN DAVIDSON
A group of former professionals from both rugby league and union will compete in a special hybrid game in Leeds this weekend to raise money to fight MND.
The ‘745 Game’ was the idea of Leeds great Rob Burrow, before he passed away earlier this year, and former Gloucester and Leicester player Ed Slater.
The match at Headingley Stadium will be played under hybrid rules, with 13 players on each team, and with one league referee and one union referee.
The league side includes a number of ex-internationals and Super League players such as Aaron Murphy, Adrian Morley, Ben Westwood, Danny McGuire, Danny Brough, Darrell Griffin, Gareth Ellis, Gary Connolly, Keith Senior, Kyle Leuluai, Luke Gale, Matt Diskin and Paul McShane.
Turning out for the union team will former pros such as Billy Twelvetrees, Danny Cipriani, Geordan Murphy, Josh Matavesi, Matt Banahan, Richard Hibbard, Tom Youngs and Tom Wood.
While rugby league and rugby union have long endured a strong and at times bitter rivalry, the two codes are coming together to generate awareness in the battle against MND.
For former England rugby union international Twelvetrees, a close friend and teammate of Slater at Gloucester and Leicester, it was a chance to support a “good mate”.
“When Ed got diagnosed with MND it really affected me and my family, just how cruel it is and how atrocious it is, and all the horrible effect it has had on him and his children and his wife,” he told rugbyleaguehub.com Long Reads.
“So when somebody wanted to do this, obviously it was easy for me to go of course I’ll play. We have to keep knocking down the door of MND and find a cure.
“There’s no answer to it, so it needs massive investment. It needs money to keep the funding going for research development and helping people with MND.”
The exact cause of MND is unknown but there have been studies that suggest a potential link between playing contact sports such as rugby league and union, and an increased risk of neurodegenerative disease.
The ’745 Game’ will have hybrid rules with a mixture of league and union laws.
Slater’s rugby union side will wear a special cherry and white kit designed by his children whilst Burrow’s league team will wear a kit inspired by the yellow kit designed by his children back in 2022.
The game will be officiated by league referee Ben Thaler and union referee Frank Murphy, with the officials wearing kit of Doddie Weir’s tartan.
“It’s exciting,” Twelvetress said.
“I think it’s really cool that its got both rules in it. The competitive nature of the lads will make it exciting.
“All the players want to make it a good brand of rugby to watch on the pitch.”
The ‘745 Game’ is not being live-streamed, rugbyleaguehub.com Long Reads understands it was offered to a number of broadcasters but no one was able to take it due to clashes or financial commitments.
Tickets for the game this Sunday, November 17, are on sale now at tickets.therhinos.co.uk
