ISSUE 113 2019 • WWW.SCRUMMAGAZINE.COM • 150aithness RFC wrote themselves into the history books,
or at least the Guinness Book of World Records, after a
mammoth game of touch rugby recently.
They broke the record for the world’s longest game of touch
rugby with a time of 30 hours 36 minutes and 45 seconds,
smashing the previous record by over half an hour.
The record-breaking match started at 6pm on 12 July at Millbank
playing fields and ran through until 12:36am on 14 July, before
the record was confirmed and all involved could finally down
tools.
Twenty-eight players took part in the challenge and raised
thousands of pounds for the My Name’5 Doddie Foundation, the
charity set up to assist the ex-Melrose and Newcastle Falcons
lock in his fight against Motor Neurone Disease.
This event was held a year after the club was visited by former
Scotland and British & Irish Lions lock Weir on the final day of
the 2017/18 season where they raised £1125 for his foundation.
Two teams of six players were on the pitch at one time, allowing
for fresh players to revitalise teams and allowing others to
take a well-earned break. The match seemed to go smoothly
even over night as the floodlights kept the dark at bay and the
weather did not bother those who have played in far worse
conditions.
Visitors thoroughly enjoyed themselves throughout the record-
breaking event as there was a bouncy castle at the side of the
pitch for younger spectators and a raffle entertained the other
supporters.
George Sinclair, President of Caithness RFC, said: “It was a
tremendous effort by everyone involved. After seeing how much
they were giving it in the first three hours, I thought they would
never keep it up but credit to them, they stuck it out.”
The man who came up with the idea to break the world record
was player Hamish Coghill. Hamish was delighted that the
community around Caithness bound together to support the
match.
He said: “It was tough mentally, physically exhausting and I was
quite emotional when we finished but I’m glad we persevered.”
He later added that some of the best rugby was played on
Saturday morning after players were revitalised with hot rolls
and joked: “My wife has said that I’m not allowed to come up
with more ideas any time soon.”C
CAITHNESS RFC
BECOME GUINNESS
WORLD RECORD
HOLDERS
CLUB RUGBY
150 • WWW.SCRUMMAGAZINE.COM • ISSUE 116 2019