Steve Walton writes…
I was fortunate enough to receive an invite from Allianz, for me and the family to attend the Twickenham Takeover day 2024. Having attended last year, I knew what an amazing event this would be.
My wife and daughter gave up their places this year which meant that, in addition to me and my son attending, we could also invite three of his teammates from Bournville Rugby Club u14’s – who Momentum proudly sponsor.
The day provided a unique opportunity for the lads to visit the famous Twickenham Stadium – Home of England Rugby – and take part in training activities on the pitch, tour the players changing rooms, and meet special guest rugby stars Ugo Monye, Shaunagh Brown, Danny Care and Sam Warburton.
The lads were also very fortunate to have Sam Warburton spend some dedicated time with them on the pitch where he put them through their paces in a ‘jackal’ training masterclass session. For the non-rugby players, the player who ‘steals’ the ball at the tackle (known as the “jackal”) often will find that as they pick up the ball the opposition support players arrive and try to knock the player back off it. To take possession, the “jackal” needs to stay on their feet and in control of their own body weight in a strong, low position and pull the ball into their chest.
I want to extend a huge thanks to Allianz for such an amazing day. The lads were absolutely buzzing afterwards. I still don’t think it has properly sunk in yet, but for them to be given the opportunity to run out and train on the famous Twickenham pitch, which just a week before hosted the World Champions South Africa versus Wales in a summer international test match, really was something special and was enormously inspiring.
Four years later, and the charity scheme has gone on to raise over £177,000 – over 6000% of their initial target.
