Welcome to Rugby for the Girls WHERE WE BRING YOU THE OTHER SIDE OF RUGBY. Thank you to RFTG Lucy for the Help for Heroes report. If you want to donate it's not too late - just link through from the article

Help

By Lucy Smith

The time : 2:30pm
The day :  Saturday 20 September 2008
The venue :  Twickenham
The occasion : Help For Heroes Rugby match
The stars : Martin Johnson, Lawrence Dallaglio, Will Greenwood, Jason Robinson, Richard Hill, Dan Luger, Mark Regan, Martin Offiah, Kenny Logan, Scott Gibbs and Colin Charvis.

The great and the good of British rugby along with some of our country's finest in the armed forces joined together to play in a fundraising match in order to raise £ 1 million in order to help our injured servicemen and women. 

The 2 teams were a combination of old heads, up and coming youngsters and men from the armed services.  The Help for Heroes XV had a distinctly English feel whilst the International XV really speaks for itself.  There were some big names in order to draw in the crowd such as Dallaglio, Robinson and for one time only, Martin Johnson.  Jonah Lomu was also named as taking part but unfortunately injured his heel during training and was unable to take part in the match; however, he did attend and was promptly mobbed by the rugby mad punters who had turned up.

The game proved to be a hotly contested and highly entertaining game which was watched by not only 52,000 paying punters but also by the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall. 

The International XV struck first with Scott Gibbs putting in the young winger Kristian Phillips after 8 minutes.  They would have struck again soon after if not for a tackle by Mark Odejobi.  Alex Goode got the Help For Heroes XV on the scoreboard at the 31st minute before Richard Hill crashed over from close range before Alex Goode added the conversion.  The Heroes added to their score with prop Nathan Catt scored on the stroke of half-time.

Kenny Logan scored in the left hand corner as a result of a scrum just after half time.  Martin Johnson entered the fray about the 50 minute mark to a standing ovation in replacement for Scott Hobson.  The Heroes XV managed to weather a sustained amount of pressure by the International XV before Will Greenwood managed to slide over the try line with a trademark dummy in order to make the score 20 - 10, with Alex Goode adding the extras.  Joe Simpson, the Heroes scrum - half also managed to cross the line with Lawrence Dallaglio adding the conversion.

All in all, the game was a success with £1.1 million being raised.  Thanks were given to the RFU for letting the match go ahead at Twickenham with no cost being incurred so that 100% of the monies raised would go straight to the charity.  Thanks were also given to the players as they were not being paid to play.

There would have been some bumps, bangs, bruises and feeling a bit stiff the next morning but the players knew that they had taken part in something special. 

Major Highlights:

* Jason Robinson showing why he was so brilliant for England with some amazing runs
* Martin Johnson coming on to standing ovation, just showing how much the English rugby public respects the big guy. (did feel sorry for Martin Offiah as he was being announced as a sub while the cheering was still going on)
* Jonah Lomu still coming along to the game, having flown specially from New Zealand to play (please remember from above that no-one was getting paid)
* Richard Hill scoring a try literally on one leg.

It also proves that there is a strong bond between rugby and the Armed Forces as proven at the Middlesex Sevens as there is always an Army team and the annual Navy and Army game.    If you wish to donate or find out about the Help For Heroes charity, please got to: HELP FOR HEROES