Local children take a “Chance” on rugby

Local law firm Clifford Chance was appointed the Official Law Firm of the Rugby World Cup, which saddled them with doing all the legal work for the tournament. On the other hand, the firm did receive an allocation of tickets for several of the games. In line with what has become the established ethos of the company, it decided to put the ticket allocation to good use.

The company used a batch of the tickets to take a class of 30 children from the Shapla Primary School in Tower Hamlets, a longstanding community partner it has been working with for many years, to watch the exciting South Africa v USA match. The children were absolutely blown away by the experience. The sheer number of people who came to watch, the loud game atmosphere, chants, Mexican waves… they’d never seen anything like it!

The company has so entered into the spirit of the World Cup that it has also organised the Clifford Chance Rugby Academy, in conjunction with the Tower Hamlets Youth Sports Foundation. Clifford Chance arranged for 30 volunteers from the firm to help coach over 300 students from ten East London schools. Following eight weeks of training, the Academy culminated in a tournament final at Millwall Rugby Club.

The feedback from the Academy was great. It was a strong initiative and the Clifford Chance people who took part thoroughly enjoyed it. It was not only active and fun for the children, but enabled them to engage with the Rugby World Cup in a way that they might not have been able to.

Here’s what the Shapla Children had to say about their experience at the international game. 

“It was epic!!! I loved every minute of it. My favourite part was when every time South Africa scored a try we would all leap up in the air and cheer. I would say the best trip EVER!!!”
Afifah (Year 6)  

“My favourite part was when South Africa scored 64 points and everyone went crazy. It was Awesome!!”
Mahbub (Year 6)

“The atmosphere inside the stadium was unbelievable. I can’t believe South Africa won against USA 64-0!”
Imtiyaz (Year 6)

“I liked it when Brian Habana scored a hat trick. He nearly broke the world record! Whenever South Africa scored a try we would stand up and cheer.”
Nizam (Year 6)

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