The Big Game (rugby union)

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An aerial view of Twickenham Stadium. The Stoop can be seen in the top left hand corner.

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 have been other high-profile matches in London between Premiership Rugby clubs at other times, including the London Double Header (2004-2017), Bath's The Clash at Twickenham and Saracens' games at Wembley Stadium, London Stadium and Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Big Game 1

27 December 2008
16:00
Harlequins26 – 26Leicester Tigers
Try: Brown
Monye
Con: Evans (2/2)
Pen: Evans (4)
ReportTry: Murphy
Croft
Con: Flood (2/2)
Pen: Flood (4)
Twickenham
Attendance: 50,000
Referee: Dave Pearson (RFU)

Big Game 2

27 December 2009
16:15
Harlequins20 – 21London Wasps
Try: Care 68' c
Strettle 79' c
Con: Evans (2/2)
Pen: Evans (2) 13', 18'
ReportTry: 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]

Big Game 3

27 December 2010
16:30
Harlequins28 – 18London Irish
Try: Lowe 69' c
Con: Evans (1/1)
Pen: Evans (7) 6', 14', 20', 26', 36', 40', 54'
ReportPen: Malone (6) 13', 18', 29', 38', 47', 59'
Twickenham
Attendance: 74,212
Referee: Andrew Small (RFU)

Big Game 4

27 December 2011
16:30
Harlequins11 – 19Saracens
Try: Marler 47' m
Pen: Evans (2) 18', 40'
ReportTry: 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]

Big Game 5

29 December 2012
14:15
Harlequins26 – 15London Irish
Try: Care 51' c
Penalty try 77' c
Con: Evans (2/2)
Pen: Evans (4) 6', 22', 42', 57'
ReportPen: Humphreys (5) 12', 24', 48', 55', 61'
Twickenham
Attendance: 82,000
Referee: Greg Garner (RFU)

Big Game 6

28 December 2013
15:00
Harlequins22 – 6Exeter Chiefs
Try: Evans 2' c
Walker 31' m
Brown 39' c
Con: Evans (2/3) 3', 40'
Pen: Evans (1/3) 62'
ReportPen: Steenson (2/2) 7', 43'
Twickenham
Attendance: 74,827
Referee: JP Doyle (RFU)

Big Game 7

27 December 2014
16:30
(1 BP) Harlequins25–30Northampton Saints
Try: Lowe 5' m
Clifford 59' c
Twomey 76' c
Con: Swiel (2/3)
Pen: Swiel (2/3) 9', 52'
ReportTry: 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

Big Game 8

27 December 2015
16:30
(1 BP) Harlequins39–39Gloucester (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'
ReportTry: 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

Big Game 9

27 December 2016
16:00
Harlequins28-24Gloucester
Try: Marchant (2) 26' m, 58' c
Clifford 41' c
Con: Jackson (2/3)
Pen: Jackson (3/3) 37', 40', 50'
ReportTry: 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

Big Game 10

30 December 2017
16:00
(1 BP) Harlequins50–21Northampton 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'
ReportTry: Horne 47' c
Groom 52' c
Haywood 72' c
Con: Myler (3/3) 47', 54', 73'
Twickenham
Attendance: 77,825
Referee: JP Doyle

Big Game 11

29 December 2018
16:00
Harlequins20-13Wasps
Try: Alex Dombrandt, Marchant
Con: Smith (2)
Pen: Marcus Smith (2)
reportTry: Stuart
Con: Sopoaga
Pen: Daly, Sopoaga
Twickenham Stadium
Attendance: 82,000
Referee: Craig Maxwell-Keys

Big Game 12

28 December 2019
16:30
Harlequins30-30Leicester Tigers
Twickenham Stadium
Attendance: 75,500

Big Game 13

Pending developments with the COVID-19 pandemic, the Big Game 13 will be held in spring 2021. Further details are due to be announced.[5]


References

  1. ^ "Club-by-club guide - Harlequins". BBC. 1 September 2009. Retrieved 7 January 2014.
  2. ^ "Twickenham Stadium". Rugby Football Union. Archived from the original on 8 January 2014. Retrieved 7 January 2014.
  3. ^ Sheppard, Callum (23 December 2011). "Big Game 4 ticket sales set new record". The Big Game. Retrieved 28 December 2011.
  4. ^ "Harlequins 11-19 Saracens". BBC Sport. 27 December 2011. Retrieved 28 December 2011.
  5. ^ "Premiership fixtures announced". Harlequin FC. 29 September 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)