Celebrate Ten Years of Sponsorship of the Investec Internationals

The England Rugby team will return to action in the 2010 Investec Internationals at Twickenham in four compelling fixtures beginning with New Zealand on 6^th  November.

Raymond van Niekerk, Investec’s head of global marketing said: “It has been a great honour for Investec to be involved with England Rugby over the last ten years. Rugby is close to Investec's heart; a sport where ambition, pride, teamwork and respect combine in a mental as well as physical context. The Investec Internationals are always very challenging and like the fans we are looking forward to some highly competitive rugby come November."

 England v Austraila - photos used with permission from Investec

England will head to the Investec Internationals on the back of a successful tour of Australia this summer where they finished with a highly credible test win in Sydney. However, they will need to be at their very best if they are to prevail over all four southern hemisphere teams New Zealand, Australia, Samoa and South Africa. 

England v South Africa - photos used with permission from Investec

England’s manager, Martin Johnson, commented:“On behalf of the Senior England EPS I’d like to thank Investec for their support of English Rugby over the last ten years. Their investment helps England have the right facilities and environment to develop as a team. The Investec Internationals will be an important step towards the Rugby World Cup in 2011.”

Since the first Investec International between England and Australia in November 2000, when England overcame Australia 22 -19, there have been some titanic Twickenham clashes against the Southern Hemisphere teams.

Here are a few facts you may not know about ten years of the Investec Internationals. 

• There have been 29 matches of which England have won 18 and lost 11.
• There have been 132 tries scored at an average of around five per game. England have scored 90 and conceded 42.
• England’s most recent Captain, Lewis Moody, heads the Investec Internationals appearances with 20, two more than Phil Vickery.
  
• A total of 2,031,445 have attended Investec Internationals at an average of 70,050 per match.
  
• Francois Steyn is the youngest player to make an appearance in an Investec International when he turned out for South Africa aged just 19 years and 188 days old.
  
• At the opposite end of the spectrum, Argentina’s Mario Ledesma became the oldest player to feature at 36 years and 181 days old. However, Simon Shaw will overtake that if he represents England this November.
  
• Whilst Samoan props Justin Va’a and Census Johnston are the heaviest players to play an Investec International at 21st 3lb, French scrum half, Pierre Mignoni, is the lightest at 11st 4lb.
  
• South African scrum half, Ricky Januarie, is the smallest player at 5ft 6in whilst England’s Simon Shaw and Nick Kennedy are the tallest at 6ft 8in.
  
• Ben Cohen leads the try scoring stakes with 12 touch downs in 15 appearances for England. Three of these scores came against Romania  who conceded a total of 20 tries in a 134-0 defeat. During this fixture, Charlie Hodgson broke England’s points record for an individual match with 44.
  
• Exactly 200 of Jonny Wilkinson’s 1,111 points for England  have accrued from kicks in his 14 Investec Internationals
  
• Ground staff would have walked over 260 miles cutting the grass in preparation for Investec Internationals.
  
• An estimated 1.7 million pints of beer have been consumed at the Investec Internationals.
  

• The RFU has employed approximately 100,000 people (3,500 per match) to ensure the success of the Investec International fixtures.    

England v New Zealand: 06 November 2010
England v Australia: 13 November 2010
England v Samoa: 20 November 2010
England v South Africa: 27 November 2010 

Tickets for the England v Samoa match start at £25 for adults and £10 for U16s. They are available now from www.rfu.com/tickets.

Investec sponsors the Investec Internationals at Twickenham, Tottenham Hotspur in cup competitions (Champions league, FA cup and Carling Cup), the Investec Derby Festival as well as the Investec Tri-Nations Rugby in New Zealand.

For further information on Investec visit - www.investec.com