Team Burrow 33 Team Slater 21
Danny Cipriani hit the nail on the head by taking a break midway through the first half of the first cross-code 745 match.
“We’re all here for one cause and that’s for the love of three guys,” the former England fly-half said, referring to Rob Burrow, Ed Slater and Doddie Weir. “There are no rivalries, divisions or segregation and that is why everyone gives their all on the pitch.”
What started as a heartfelt WhatsApp conversation between Burrow and Slater came to fruition in Leeds with a star-crossed clash featuring rugby league and union royalty, and attracted an impressive crowd of over 10,000 people in Headingley.
Leeds Rhinos legend Burrow died from motor neuron disease (MND) in June aged 41 and former Leicester and Gloucester striker Slater, 36, was diagnosed with the disease in phase final year in July 2022.
Burrow and Slater struck up a close friendship with Scottish rugby union great Weir, who died of MND in November 2022, and the seeds of a cross-code game were sown a year ago.
Slater suggested to Burrow something similar to the Wigan-Bath clashes of the mid-1990s and the first 745 game – honoring the respective numbers worn by Burrow, Slater and Weir – was organized and all funds raised would go to the charities of the MND associated with all three. players.
He was supported by some big names, including Burrow’s great friend Kevin Sinfield and Jonny Wilkinson, Weir’s former Newcastle Falcons teammate, who both watched from the sidelines.
Danny McGuire and Cipriani were among those who took to the field in an entertaining clash featuring many former Leeds Rhinos players from Team Burrow and former Leicester Tigers and Gloucester players from Team Slater .
They included league greats Danny McGuire, Keith Senior, Barrie McDermott and Kylie Leuluai, who all played with Burrow in the all-conquering Leeds team, and former Union stars such as Tom Wood, Phil Dowson, Billy Twelvetrees, Matt Banahan, Geordan Murphy and Cipriani.
The match was played under a hybrid of league and union rules and Slater’s team wore a cherry and white kit designed by his children, while Burrow’s team wore a kit inspired by the yellow design created by his children in 2022.
The officials, led by two on-field referees Ben Thaler and Frank Murphy – one officiating in the ruck, the other offside – wore kits adorned with Weir’s iconic tartan.
The 13-a-side match may have naturally played out more like a rugby championship match, but both teams contributed fully to an entertaining clash.
A neat pass from Cipriani sent Tom Johnson rushing down the left channel for the game’s opening try, but McGuire, who played alongside Burrow in eight Super League Grand Final victories for Leeds, started to pull the strings of the league team.
McGuire remains in good physical condition and scored a typically opportunistic try for Team Burrow after some careful handling in the build-up.
A number of players on both sides now carry more wood than when they were playing, but a competitive swing continued to produce tries, with Banahan receiving a pass from Twelvetrees to score.
Waine Pryce scored twice for Team Burrow and McGuire grabbed his second while McDermott was sent off late on after a clash with Hamish Weir.
Dowson, who led Northampton to the Premiership title last season, said: “I was lucky enough to play with Doddie Weir at Newcastle and he was very good to me when I was young. It’s great to support such a great cause and the crowd is fantastic.
Weir’s sons Angus and Hamish Weir were named on the bench along with Finlay and Kian Stewart, whose father Marcus, the former footballer, was diagnosed with MND in 2022.
Former Scotland winger Kenny Logan, who helped organize the match and was a close friend of Weir, said: “We are determined to make this match an annual rugby event like Soccer Aid for Unicef.
“If we get TV support we could raise £10 million. MND is extremely underfunded and we need to find a cure.
Rob Burrow Captions: G Connolly; T Minns, K Senior, R Atkins, W Pryce; D McGuire, L Gale; E Dowes, M Diskin, K Leuluai, G Ellis, B Westwood, A Morley.
Bench: P McShane, L Ambler, D Brough, L Ambler, B Beswick, B Delaney, D Griffin, K Wood, A Murphy, S Murrell, W Godwin.
Ed Slater Captions: G Murphy; M Banahan, J Simpson, D Waldouck, W Twelvetrees; D Cipriani, M Young; A Waller, T Youngs, G Thompson, T Wood, T Johnson, P Dowson.
Bench: A Forsyth, A Allen, F Stewart, G Kitchener, K Stewart, K Traynor, L Dickson, M Cornwell, M Garvey, M Holford, O James, P McAllister, T Cruise, T Bell, B Pienaar, A Weir, H Weir.
Referees: Ben Thaler and Frank Murphy. Presence: 10,044