Rugby players finish 28-hour world record attempt in Sandbach

Provisional world records have been set simultaneously for the longest ever men and women’s rugby sevens matches.

The two games were played at Sandbach Rugby Club in Cheshire over Friday and Saturday, with both contests lasting 28 hours.

For the men’s match, the duration was longer than the current Guinness World Record of 24 hours and 30 minutes set in 2017, while there was not an existing record for a women’s match.

Both achievements are subject to final verification from Guinness and the event, called 24/7s, has so far raised more than £68,000 for rugby mental health charity LooseHeadz.

“It was incredible, hard, tough, emotional, crazy, just a phenomenal event. It’s still taking some processing,” said Sandbach Rugby Club player Rob Smith-Owen.

The attempt began at about midday on Friday, with players doing multi-hour shifts until both matches finished at 16:00 BST on Saturday.