Poole touch rugby team's 34-hour beach match confirmed as record

The twenty two players played non-stop for 34 hours

A 34-hour touch rugby match on a beach has been confirmed as a world record.

Twenty-two members of the Sandbaggers rugby club played non-stop at Branksome Dene Chine in Poole in May.

They took on the challenge to raise money for Motor Neurone Disease (MND) charities after one of their members was diagnosed with the condition.

Guinness World Records has verified the match, which lasted 34 hours and six seconds, was a new world record.

More than 140 volunteers were involved in the bid, including a team of physios to help the players in the two 11-a-side teams cope with the demands of running and playing on sand.

During the match, they received video messages of encouragement from sports stars including Welsh rugby legends Jonathan Davies and Shane Williams, Olympic sailor Iain Percy and Newcastle footballer Callum Wilson.

The challenge came about after player Andrew Vaughton, was diagnosed with MND in 2021.

He said achieving the record had been a "massive team effort".

More than £100,000 has so far been raised for the MND Association and the My Name'5 Doddie Foundation.

The previous record for the longest touch rugby match was held by Hoylake Rugby Club in the Wirral in 2021.

The two sides played on the beach through the night