The Big Game (rugby union)
The Big Game is an annual rugby union match hosted by Harlequins during the Christmas holiday season each year. It is one of Harlequins' regular home matches in the Premiership Rugby but it is moved from their usual home ground at the Twickenham Stoop (14,816 capacity[1]) to the much larger Twickenham Stadium (82,000 seats[2]).
There are other high-profile matches in London between Premiership Rugby clubs at other times, in particular the London Double Header and The Clash at Twickenham and Saracens' European or Premiership games at Wembley Stadium, London Stadium and Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
1
| 27 December 2008 16:00 |
| Harlequins | 26 – 26 | Leicester Tigers |
| Try: Brown Monye Con: Evans (2/2) Pen: Evans (4) | Report | Try: Murphy Croft Con: Flood (2/2) Pen: Flood (4) |
| Twickenham Attendance: 50,000 Referee: Dave Pearson (RFU) |
2
| 27 December 2009 16:15 |
| Harlequins | 20 – 21 | London Wasps |
| Try: Care 68' c Strettle 79' c Con: Evans (2/2) Pen: Evans (2) 13', 18' | Report | Try: Simpson 2' m Hart 74' c Con: Walder (1/1) Pen: Cipriani (2) 23', 35' Walder (1) 62' |
| Twickenham Attendance: 76,716 Referee: Dave Pearson (RFU) |
- Big Game 2 set a record Premiership attendance of 76,716.[3]
3
| 27 December 2010 16:30 |
| Harlequins | 28 – 18 | London Irish |
| Try: Lowe 69' c Con: Evans (1/1) Pen: Evans (7) 6', 14', 20', 26', 36', 40', 54' | Report | Pen: Malone (6) 13', 18', 29', 38', 47', 59' |
| Twickenham Attendance: 74,212 Referee: Andrew Small (RFU) |
4
| 27 December 2011 16:30 |
| Harlequins | 11 – 19 | Saracens |
| Try: Marler 47' m Pen: Evans (2) 18', 40' | Report | Try: Strettle 19' c Con: Farrell (1/1) Pen: Farrell (4) 8', 10', 13', 24' |
| Twickenham Attendance: 82,000 Referee: Wayne Barnes (RFU) |
- Going into the game Harlequins had won all of their Premiership games, but fell to defeat in this their eleventh game to the team second in the table. As Twickenham had a capacity 82,000 crowd this game set a global rugby union attendance record for a regular-season club fixture.[4]
5
| 29 December 2012 14:15 |
| Harlequins | 26 – 15 | London Irish |
| Try: Care 51' c Penalty try 77' c Con: Evans (2/2) Pen: Evans (4) 6', 22', 42', 57' | Report | Pen: Humphreys (5) 12', 24', 48', 55', 61' |
| Twickenham Attendance: 82,000 Referee: Greg Garner (RFU) |
6
| 28 December 2013 15:00 |
| Harlequins | 22 – 6 | Exeter Chiefs |
| Try: Evans 2' c Walker 31' m Brown 39' c Con: Evans (2/3) 3', 40' Pen: Evans (1/3) 62' | Report | Pen: Steenson (2/2) 7', 43' |
| Twickenham Attendance: 74,827 Referee: JP Doyle (RFU) |
7
| 27 December 2014 16:30 |
| (1 BP) Harlequins | 25–30 | Northampton Saints |
| Try: Lowe 5' m Clifford 59' c Twomey 76' c Con: Swiel (2/3) Pen: Swiel (2/3) 9', 52' | Report | Try: Manoa 18' c North 42' c Fotuali'i 71' c Con: Myler (3/3) Pen: Myler (3/3) 11', 37', 54' |
| Twickenham Stadium Attendance: 82,000 Referee: Wayne Barnes |
8
| 27 December 2015 16:30 |
| (1 BP) Harlequins | 39–39 | Gloucester (1 BP) |
| Try: Yarde 15' m Care 34' c Easter 52' c R. Chisholm (2) 54' c, 76' c Con: N. Evans (4/5) Pen: N. Evans (2/2) 12', 70' | Report | Try: Thrush 6' c Hook 30' c Trinder (2) 47' c, 56' m Cook 68' c Con: Laidlaw (4/5) Pen: Laidlaw (2/3) 20', 60' |
| Twickenham Stadium Attendance: 70,718 Referee: Wayne Barnes |
9
| 27 December 2016 16:00 |
| Harlequins | 28-24 | Gloucester |
| Try: Marchant (2) 26' m, 58' c Clifford 41' c Con: Jackson (2/3) Pen: Jackson (3/3) 37', 40', 50' | Report | Try: Evans 48' c Hook 62' c Matu'u 70'c Con: Laidlaw (2/2) Burns (1/1) |
| Twickenham Stadium Attendance: 77,567 Referee: JP Doyle |
10
| 30 December 16:00 |
| (1 BP) Harlequins | 50–21 | Northampton Saints |
| Try: Ward 10' c Walker 18' c Visser (2) 20' c, 42' m Care (2) 30' c, 56' c Luamanu 67' c Con: M. Smith (6/7) 11', 18', 21', 31', 57', 68' Pen: M. Smith (1/1) 16' | Report | Try: Horne 47' c Groom 52' c Haywood 72' c Con: Myler (3/3) 47', 54', 73' |
| Twickenham Attendance: 77,825 Referee: JP Doyle |
11
| 29 December 16:00 |
| Harlequins | 20-13 | Wasps |
| Try: Alex Dombrandt, Marchant Con: Smith (2) Pen: Marcus Smith (2) | report | Try: Stuart Con: Sopoaga Pen: Daly, Sopoaga |
| Twickenham Stadium Attendance: 82,000 Referee: Craig Maxwell-Keys |
12
References
- ^ "Club-by-club guide - Harlequins". BBC. 1 September 2009. Retrieved 7 January 2014.
- ^ "Twickenham Stadium". Rugby Football Union. Archived from the original on 8 January 2014. Retrieved 7 January 2014.
- ^ Sheppard, Callum (23 December 2011). "Big Game 4 ticket sales set new record". The Big Game. Retrieved 28 December 2011.
- ^ "Harlequins 11-19 Saracens". BBC Sport. 27 December 2011. Retrieved 28 December 2011.
