Brendan Gallagher: Murder on the dancefloor as Harlequins try to get a grip

The Murderball challenge is on. Mike Brown, already proud ambassador for Great Britain Wheelchair Rugby, wants to celebrate Harlequins‘ coming on board as formal partners with a series of challenge matches between the GB squad and his able bodied colleagues.
“It’s great that Quins have come on board and I would like to think we can get plenty of things going to show our support and that would definitely include a few games,” Brown told The Rugby Paper. “Quins v GB, bring it on. A lot of the lads are very interested in helping out – Chris Robshaw, George Robson and Mark Lambert came down to the Copper Box to watch some of the Paralympic games in 2012 – and it’s time for us to step up to the plate!”
Wheelchair rugby is often referred to as Murderball because of its no holds barred action and collisions and was the unexpected box office success at the 2012 Paralympics with every session at the Copper Box sold out.

“We will get a kicking to start with so we will have to raise our game but it will be great fun,” continues Brown. “Not only is wheelchair rugby very skilful but it’s really tiring, especially the upper body which gets a real work out. The first time I watched the GB lads play I was very impressed with the speed, the passing skills and the hard hits. In fact everything I love about the able-bodied game is there in wheelchair rugby.
“The first time I tried playing against them I was very nervous and well let’s just say there is plenty of YouTube footage out there for those of you who want a good laugh. The GB guys make it look easy but it’s anything but. They are elite sportsmen, rugby players, with World championship and Paralympic dreams and we need to get behind them.”
Brown ‘discovered’ the game a couple of years ago when his partner Eliza’s father Tony Woodcock – the former England footballer – alerted him to some great YouTube clips. Brown’s dad suffers from MS and also needs a wheelchair on occasions and the England full-back immediately felt this was a cause he wanted to support and contacted British Wheelchair rugby whose chief executive David Pond invited him down to the Paralympics.
“I’m very happy to help out in any way possible, whether that be by trying to raise the profile of the sport – spreading the gospel if you like – or offering whatever advice I can to the players in terms of supporting GB teams who want to be the best they can be and win tournaments.”
The British Wheelchair team certainly face a summer schedule that would test most elite sportsmen, able-bodied or otherwise. Later this month they are heading to the USA for an invitation tournament before returning for home friendlies against France and Sweden in Leicester. Then it’s back on the road again with the Canada Cup in Vancouver which will feature the top six nations in the world which leads nicely into this year’s World Championship in Odense in Denmark. “The World’s is our short term target and we are looking to challenge USA, Canada and the Paralympic champions Australia for a podium place,” says Pond. “In the longer term the Rio Paralympics are our big target although we will be releasing details later this week of a fantastic event were are organising next October back at the Copper Box to coincide with RWC2015.
“We are very excited about the partnership with Quins and specifically we are looking to work in two areas,” continues Pond, a former RN Commander and Navy representative rugby player. “We will be supporting their foundation which is very much based on community rugby which we are very keen on because it will drive our participation and help us meet our Sport England mandate while the same time we will be able to lock into Quins’ cutting edge performance techniques. Our performance director and coaches will, on occasions, be able to get close up alongside Conor O’Shea and his backroom team and pick up some of the finer points of performance development.
“I’m a great believer in the ‘family of rugby’. I’m from an able-bodied rugby background but disability rugby gives that rugby family another dimension. There is a wonderful release in wheelchair rugby for those who play – you can again ‘tackle’ a sport that is physical and aggressive.
“Absolutely the key component for me, though, is the teamwork. Every form of rugby stands and falls by teamwork. Our players learn as much about how to cope with their day-to-day lives through teamwork as they do about the sport itself and that breeds so much strength and confidence.”
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