Rugby legend comes out of retirement for a cause

few of the lads hadn’t played for quite some time and were carrying a few injuries, but now we are super excited to have another crack at it.”

Dual code international rugby legend Andy Farrell will make a star appearance at this weekend’s Emirates Dubai Rugby Sevens as part of the Joining Jack international veterans side.

The squad was formed in aid of Jack Johnson — the son of former Wigan Warriors rugby league player Andy — who has a progressive muscle-wasting condition called Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. Farrell will step out alongside other stars like Jason Robinson, Sean Long and Paul Sculthorpe, while Martin Offiah has been handed the role of water boy, taking over from 2012 Tour de France winner Bradley Wiggins, who performed the duty in Dubai last year.

Having reached the semi- finals last year, Farrell, who has been drafted in to help a predominantly rugby league- educated squad adapt to the nuances of union, said the team are looking to go even better.

Good spirits

“It was played in good spirits last year,” Farrell told Gulf

News. “But a few of the lads hadn’t played for quite some time and were carrying a few injuries, but now we are super excited to have another crack at it.

“We’ll have a bit of a chat about the rules. The games are so short that we don’t want to be giving penalties away and, with our rugby league background, the referees will be looking to see if we know the rules or not.”

Former St. Helen’s player Sculthorpe said that, despite this being a charity team, they still wanted to win. “If we can win it, it further promotes the charity and the prizemoney goes in the coffers for research. So it’s really important. You only have to look at the players involved to know we don’t like losing,” he said.