Rugby league triumphs over union in cross-code clash

Team Burrow 33 Team Slater 21

Danny Cipriani hit the nail on the head when taking a breather midway through the first half of the inaugural cross-code 745 Game.

“We’re all here for one cause and that’s for the love of three guys,” said the former England fly-half, referring to Rob Burrow, Ed Slater and Doddie Weir. “There’s no rivalries, division or segregation and that’s why everyone is giving it their all on the pitch.”

What began as a heartfelt WhatsApp conversation between Burrow and Slater came to fruition in Leeds with a star-studded cross-code clash featuring rugby royalty from league and union, and drew an impressive crowd of more than 10,000 at Headingley.

Leeds Rhinos legend Burrow died from motor neurone disease (MND) in June aged 41 and former Leicester and Gloucester forward Slater, 36, was diagnosed with the terminal illness in July 2022.

Burrow and Slater formed a close friendship with Scottish rugby union great Weir, who died from MND in November 2022, and the seeds for 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 inaugural 745 Game – honouring the respective numbers worn by Burrow, Slater and Weir – was organised and all funds raised will go to MND charities associated with the three players.

It has been backed by some big names including Burrow’s great friend Kevin Sinfield and Jonny Wilkinson, Weir’s former Newcastle Falcons team-mate, who both watched from the sidelines.

Danny McGuire and Cipriani were among those who took to the field in an entertaining clash featuring many ex-Leeds Rhinos players on Team Burrow and former Leicester Tigers and Gloucester players for Team Slater.

They included league greats Danny McGuire, Keith Senior, Barrie McDermott and Kylie Leuluai, who all played with Burrow in Leeds’ all-conquering side, and former union stars such as Tom Wood, Phil Dowson, Billy Twelvetrees, Matt Banahan, Geordan Murphy and Cipriani.

The match was played using a hybrid of league and union rules and Slater’s team wore a cherry and white kit designed by his children, while Burrow’s side wore a kit inspired by the yellow design created by his children in 2022.

Officials, led by two on-pitch referees Ben Thaler and Frank Murphy – with one officiating the ruck, the other offside – wore kits in Doddie Weir’s signature tartan.

The 13-a-side game was, perhaps naturally, played more like a rugby league match but both sides contributed fully to an entertaining clash.

A neat pass from Cipriani sent Tom Johnson racing clear inside the left channel for the game’s opening try but McGuire, who played alongside Burrow in eight Super League Grand Final wins for Leeds, began to pull the strings for the league team.

McGuire remains in fine physical condition and scored a typically opportunistic try for Team Burrow after some neat handling in the build-up.

A number of players on both sides are now carrying rather more timber than in their playing days, but a see-saw contest continued to produce tries, with Banahan taking 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 very lucky enough to play with Doddie Weir at Newcastle and he was very kind to me when I was a young lad. It’s brilliant to be supporting 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.

Ex-Scotland winger Kenny Logan, who helped to organise the match and was a close friend of Doddie Weir, said: “We’re determined to make this match an annual rugby event like Soccer Aid for Unicef.

“If we get TV behind it then we could raise £10million. MND is hugely underfunded and we need to find a cure.”

TEAM BURROW: 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.

TEAM SLATER: 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. Attendance: 10,044