Rugby players raise money for injured team mates

A team of rugby veterans have raised £15,000 for a charity supporting players who have suffered life-changing injuries.

Chosen Hill RFC in Gloucestershire sent nearly 30 players to the Vets Day tournament at Twickenham on Saturday to raise money for the RFU Injured Players Foundation (IPF).

Stuart Coles, the club's chairman, said it was "absolutely amazing" to take part.

"Rugby is a tough old sport, and to have people recognise that going out doing something that you love could lead to potentially a life-changing situation, and giving you the support that was sadly lacking for a number of years, is testament to why how important this charity is," Coles added.

"Every club across the land has got examples when people got injured in the past and had bucket and sponge and were just told to get on with it," Coles said.

The IPF is England Rugby's official charity and provides lifelong support to players with life-changing injuries, offering medical, emotional, and financial help to them and their families.

Former rugby player Liam O'Keefe from Hambrook, near Bristol, was supported by the IPF after a rugby accident 10 years ago left him paralysed.

Last October, O'Keefe become one of the first people with tetraplegia to push himself up Mount Kilimanjaro. His aim was to raise £50,000 to give back to the charity that had supported him and his family.

As the second highest fundraiser, Chosen Hill RFC got to use the away team's dressing room before walking down the tunnel and stepping out onto the hallowed turf at Twickenham.

"That vets team grew up together, and some had hung up their rugby boots for good so for that to culminate for them in a day at Twickenham, it was really special," Coles said.

The team, which featured four sets of brothers as old as 50, got through to the final, but lost out to a last minute penalty.

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