'Amazing' team for rugby world record attempt

A woman who is part of a team attempting to break a rugby world record has praised her "amazing" team.

Sarah Coleman from Thatcham, Berkshire, is one of three players from Newbury Rugby Club travelling to Mullingar RFC in Ireland to take part in a 36-hour rugby match.

The challenge is raising money for three rugby-related charities.

Ms Coleman told BBC Radio Berkshire they had met the rest of their "fantastic" team ahead of the match starting on Wednesday, which is due to finish at 20:00 BST on Thursday.

"Everyone is so lovely [but] obviously slightly crazy for wanting to play 36 hours of rugby," she said.

She said her strategy was to take the match - which is split into lots of games - bit by bit.

"Honestly, [I'll] just take it one segment at a time," she said.

"We play 40 minutes, get a 15 minute break - so just look at it at a game of rugby many times."

Because it is a formal world record attempt, there can be no bending of the rules.

"It has to be actually to the laws of rugby for it to stand as an actual world record," said Ms Coleman.

"It has to be full contact, proper rugby, 23 players on each team."

Players can accumulate time off for small breaks, she said.

"If you play, say, a four hour stint then you can have an hour to get your power naps, your food, little bit of rest in, see the physios, that kind of thing," she said.

The team is hoping to raise more than £100,000 for children's rugby charity Wooden Spoon, rugby mental health charity LooseHeadz, and The Lions Trust.

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