Rugby - Help for Heroes - Twickenham 20/9/2008

Bulloch joins Help for Heroes legends

British and Irish Lions hooker Gordon Bulloch is the latest member to join the Help for Heroes legends.

The former Scotland international and British and Irish Lions captain will feature in the International XV at Twickenham Stadium on September 20 (kick off 2.30pm).

Bulloch, who captained the Lions for three mid week games during the 2005 New Zealand tour, will line up alongside 2001 British and Irish Lions team mate Scott Gibbs and former Scotland team mates Kenny Logan and Dave Hilton.

Bulloch, who along with Gibbs was a replacement on the 2001 tour to Australia, said “When I was approached to play in the match I had to accept.

“Help for Heroes is such a worthwhile cause and this is our chance to show support for the men and women who are out there fighting for us and need our help.”

Scott Gibbs, International XV Captain said, “Gordon was one of the most skilful hookers of his generation and it will be great to have him on my side at Twickenham. I always enjoyed playing and touring with him - and hated playing against him.”

“With the likes of Dallaglio and Johnson in the opposing pack that will get him wound up for the game. He's a great addition to our squad."

International Select XV manager Ieuan Evans has also recruited Jonah Lomu to play outside Gibbs in his back division.

The Help for Heroes XV, managed by former England captain Phil de Glanville, will face an International XV managed by Ieuan Evans. The match aims to raise £1million for Help for Heroes charity and the care and rehabilitation of injured British service personnel who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan.


Tickets for the Help for Heroes match on September 20 are available from Ticketmaster on 0844 8472492 or www.Ticketmaster.co.uk


Tickets are priced from £20 for adults, £10 for juniors (under 16) with a family ticket for two adults and two children costing £50.00. Help for Heroes is supported by Investec, Lord Ashcroft and Nintendo.

I think this is a seriously good cause but it wont be much of a spectacle.

Some of these guys must have not played for 5 - 10 years. Theyll need an awful lot of substitutions.

Think Ill send my cheque in rather than buy a ticket.

Colin Charvis is set for one more tilt at arch-rival Lawrence Dallaglio when the two back row legends go head-to-head in the Help For Heroes Challenge match at Twickenham Stadium on 20 September.

The 94-times capped Charvis is the latest big name to commit himself to the match, which aims to raise £1m to provide practical support for those soldiers wounded in Afghanistan and Iraq, and he will line-up in Scott Gibbs' International Select XV.

That will bring the current Dragons player-coach into direct conflict with Help For Heroes XV skipper Dallaglio at the home of English rugby.

The two players have played against each other for England and Wales no fewer than nine times down the years, with Dallaglio leading the contest 8-1.

"I know that Lawrence has the edge on Colin in the England v Wales games, but he might just remember the one win Colin was part of in 1999," said Gibbs.

"We stole the game, and the Grand Slam, from England that day and I'm sure that defeat still hurts. It will be great having Colin at the heart of our pack because he is such a physical animal.

"I know he will relish one final chance to do battle with Lawrence and their contest should add some extra spark to what is shaping up to be a great game."

Gibbs scored a mercurial try at Wembley back in 1999 when Wales triumphed 32-31 and is coming out of a four year retirement to lead the International Select XV.

He, and team manager Ieuan Evans, have already recruited former New Zealand wonder wing Jonah Lomu, Scottish stars Kenny Logan and Gordon Bulloch and Australian World Cup winner Jeremy Paul in a squad to play against a team that already contains Dallaglio, Will Greenwood and Martin Johnson.

"The addition of Colin to the International Select XV shows this is going to be a highly competitive occasion. He is the first of a number of current Magners League players we hope to have in our squad," said Evans.

"This game will give Colin the chance to put one over on Lawrence at Twickenham having failed to do so for Wales during his illustrious career."

Tickets are available for purchase from Ticketmaster by calling 0844 8472492 or on-line at www.ticketmaster.co.uk (£20 for adults and £10 for Under 16 - Family ticket at £50 for 2 + 2).

ends.

Heroes the real deal say rugby legends

As Martin Johnson prepares to make his return to Fortress Twickenham, two of his Help for Heroes rivals got a taste of life in a real war zone.

Welsh rugby legends Ieuan Evans and Scott Gibbs joined the First Fusiliers to find out for themselves what life's really like for Britain's real heroes.

After arriving in darkness in a Hercules jet wearing full body armour and helmet in temperatures over 100 degrees fahrenheit and 75% humidity, Gibbs told today's rfu.com podcast,

In rugby we talk about battles on the field, about winning and about sacrifice, but this is the real deal.

The pair will join Johnson, Lawrence Dallaglio and Jonah Lomu for the Help for Heroes charity match at Twickenham on September 20 and hope to raise £1m for the care and rehabilitation of Britain's service personnel after they have served our country in conflicts abroad.

The charity's founder Bryn Parry explained, The analogy I use is that at one end of the pitch you've got 650 people, the same number you get in a battle group and at the other end you have your mate who's gone into a mine field and blown his leg off and is lying there screaming.

The referee blows his whistle and tells you to get down to the other end of the pitch and save his life. But there's just one thing you need to know, and that's that before you get there, 12 of you will be dead and 65 will be badly wounded.

Those are the statistics that people like the paras are going through, yet every day they cross the stating line without question. That's why we call them heroes.

Tickets for the Help for Heroes match are available from Ticketmaster on 0844 8472492 or www.Ticketmaster.co.uk, priced from £20 for adults, £10 for juniors (under 16) with a family ticket for two adults and two children costing £50.

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This Saturday sees the start of the Guinness Premiership when all four London teams are in action at Twickenham in the traditional opening day double-header.

Last season saw London Wasps lift the trophy as a fitting farewell for Lawrence Dallaglio. This year, Raphael Ibanez will take over the captain's armband and the French hooker said, There's no better feeling than going on holiday with a title.

Coming back from the bottom of the league and winning it was a great achievement. But that now is giving us a new challenge, which is to hold the title.

With new faces, coaches and laws, Newcastle Falcons Steve Bates isn't making any predictions. There are lots of external factors that will have an influence but we can't really gauge or determine how important they are going to be, explained the director of rugby.

New laws, the refereeing of those laws and the influence of the elite playing squad; it'll be interesting to see how these factors affect different teams and how well they cope with them.

One of the new faces is Wallaby full back Chris Latham, who this year signed for Worcester Warriors, and has already impressed Pat Sanderson.

He's very impressive, admitted the skipper,not just his ability as a player but his attitude and commitment right from the word go have been exemplary and pretty inspirational to be honest.

Northampton Saints might be returning to the premiership fold, but according to their captain Bruce Reihana, there is a new buzz at Franklin's Gardens.

As a club as a whole we're together and unified. It's magnificent here at the moment and it's definitely the best we've had, there are no excuses.

For Richard Hill, hopes are high for this season, as the Bristol coach aims to build on last year's ninth place finish. If you're in the Heineken Cup you don't do well in the league unless you're one of the top three,explained Hill.

It's just too hard to be able to cope with two such tough competitions. It was fantastic to play in the Heineken Cup last year but we're back in the European Challenge Cup this year so we're hoping our league form will improve a little bit.

Saturday's action kicks off with London Irish v London Wasps at 2.30pm followed by Saracens v Harlequins at 5pm. Tickets for the Twickenham double bill are available on the day from £20 for adults or £10 for under 16s.

For the full interviews, check out the rfu.com podcast every Thursday (from 4pm). Here, you can listen to the weekly podcast or subscribe to itunes and have it delivered straight to your inbox each week.

Formerly the Gillette Rugby Podcast, the rfu.com podcast takes you inside English rugby from the grassroots to the elite.