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£20,000 raised for Restart Rugby and Rugby League Cares at AFEX Trading Day
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Harlequins legend Ugo Monye were amongst the union team
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Restart Rugby offer players both post-playing career planning, education and financial support to deal with catastrophic injury
The debate over which rugby code is superior — league or union — was settled on the trading room floor at foreign currency specialists AFEX on Wednesday.
In an event that raised £20,000 for charities Restart Rugby and Rugby League Cares, players swapped the usual surrounds of shorts, studs and mud for stacked trading screens and pinstriped suits.
Current and former union players converted £8.4m worth of trades in an hour while representatives from league were only able to offload £5.6m.
Harlequins legend Ugo Monye were amongst the union team behind the mauling, while league’s team included former Great Britain international Garreth Carvell.
“It’s quite bizarre, I just gave a ticket and apparently that’s worth £400,000,” marveled Monye.
“It’s exciting. You see a lot of ex-rugby players working in the City. They’re very generous and willing to give opportunities, like this one.”
Damian Hopley, Group CEO of the RPA, said: “The support AFEX and the players have shown for Restart Rugby has been outstanding.
“It’s great to see so many of our members giving up their time to support such an important cause.
“The benefit of today’s event is twofold, not only do our members get to see what life is like working with an RPA partner, they also have the opportunity ro raise money for their fellow professionals and promote the work of their incredible charity.”
The other players, past and present, who took part includied Kyran Bracken (former Saracens and England), Andrew Fenby (London Irish), Tim Streather and Nils Mordt (both Saracens) and Jon Wilkin (St. Helens & England), Leon Pryce (Hull & Great Britain) and Stuart Fielden (former Bradford, Wigan & Great Britain) took to the trading floor to execute currency trades in a contest to see who from Rugby Union and Rugby League could place the most trades on behalf of their form of the game.
