The Sydney Convicts Rugby Club* will hold its annual “Rugger Bugger” fundraising show next week to raise money to send the team to Rome to compete in the Bingham Cup.
Known as the Gay Rugby World Cup, the Bingham Cup is a biennial international tournament where inclusive rugby clubs from around the world compete for the trophy. It’s named after Mark Bingham, who was on board United Airlines Flight 93 during the events of Septemember 11 attacks and is credited as one of the men who fought against the hijackers, leading to the plane crashing in a Pennsylvanian field.
“One of his life goals he had been working towards was promoting gay inclusive rugby and helping to create more inclusive teams internationally,” said Anthony Orange of the Sydney Convicts.
The Rugger Bugger fundraising event, to be held at Universal Sydney, will start at 7pm on Satuday, May 11, and include strip-teases and saucy shows performed by Sydney Convicts players.
Orange said Rugger Bugger was a chance for the community to raise funds for the team and send them off with a big performance.
“There will be three main performances throughout the night with more than 30 of our players getting their gear off. In between performances our stages will be filled with DJ Healer and our Convicts gogo boys,” he said.
This year’s theme is “world tour” to commemorate the club’s 20th anniversary.
“As a part of our 20th anniversary we wanted to give a nod to some of our past international competitions, with our performances focused around past cities we have travelled to and competed in at the Bingham Cup,” he said.
More than 140 teams will compete for this year’s Cup in Rome from countries including Australia, America, Canada and the UK. In addition to the Convicts, the Australian teams include the Brisbane Hustlers, Melbourne Chargers, Perth Rams and the Adelaide Sharks.
“Competitions on such a scale as this are rare – something the Convicts don’t take for granted,” said Orange. “That’s why we will be bringing home the Cup … to show Australia and the world just how good we are!”
The Convicts have to date won the tournament a total of five times, most recently in Amsterdam in 2018.
“We’ve got some strong competition but the team is ready to bring home the silver back to Australia,” he said.
Final release tickets for the Rugger Bugger event are $55 and include access to Universal’s DéjàVu party.
The opening ceremony for the Bingham Cup will be held on May 22, with tournaments held May 23 until May 26.`
*Editor’s note: Eliot Hastie is a former member of the Sydney Convicts who participated in two Bingham Cups.
Gay Sydney News reporter