A RUGBY player from Llanidloes has broken another world record by playing in the longest ever game of rugby union.

Robert Cooper, 32, represented children’s charity of rugby Wooden Spoon in a game played against the School of Hard Knocks at Hazlewood, the home of Premiership Rugby team London Irish, to break the previous record that stood at 29 hours and 15 minutes.

The Llanidloes RFC player is no stranger to charity challenges having taken part in various successful rugby-based world record attempts including the charity’s feats on Mount Everest earlier this year, which broke two world records for the highest games of rugby in history.

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“I said I would never do an event like this again.” Robert said.

“Yet when Wooden Spoon gave me the opportunity to attempt this marathon event, the realisation of how many children I would be able to help was all I needed.

“Having done this twice before, I had a rough idea what we’d be getting into, but it couldn’t prepare us for the heat. We kept each other going with amazing banter and encouragement as well as the thought of raising money for Wooden Spoon.

He added: “And we couldn’t have done it without the volunteers, whose thankless task it was to run on water, energy gels and life-saving sun cream.”

Playing a game of rugby, under official laws, the two teams kicked off at 11am on Sunday, August 25, and battled hard in tortuous conditions that saw the mercury rise to a searing 33 degrees Celsius.

The School of Hard Knocks got on the scoreboard first and were able to keep this lead throughout the game, outmuscling Wooden Spoon over the ensuing 30 hours. With the score showing 2,154 v 1,163 to the School of Hard Knocks, comprising a total of 545 tries, 290 conversions, and four drop goals, the players were relieved to hear the final whistle blow at 5.31pm on Monday, August 26, having set a World Record.

The two sides were comprised of rugby fans and players from a variety of backgrounds, including former England cap Andy Gomarsall, who was in the Rugby World Cup-winning squad of 2003.

Andy said: “The guys bonded throughout the experience and supported each other, drawing strength from what we were setting out to achieve and the great causes that any funds raised will go towards.”

Wooden Spoon aims to raise £100,000 through the challenge to help disadvantaged children in the UK have better opportunities in life as a bid to increase its impact in the year of the Rugby World Cup.