The Big Game (rugby union)
The Big Game is an annual rugby union match hosted by Harlequins since 2008 and Harlequins Women since 2021.[1] It is held during the Christmas holiday season each year. It is one of the regular home matches in Premiership Rugby for the men's team and in Premiership Women's Rugby for the women's team. The fixture is moved from their usual home ground at the Twickenham Stoop (with a capacity of 14,816[2]) to the much larger Twickenham Stadium (with 82,000 seats[3]).
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.
Since 2022 Harlequins have also hosted an additional match at Twickenham near the end of the season known as Big Summer Kick-off.[4]
Big Game 1[edit]
| 27 December 2008 16:00 |
| Harlequins | 26 – 26 | Leicester Tigers |
| Try: Brown Monye Con: Evans (2/2) Pen: Evans (4) | Report | Try: Murphy Croft Con: Flood (2/2) Pen: Flood (4) |
| Twickenham Stadium Attendance: 50,000 Referee: Dave Pearson (RFU) |
Big Game 2[edit]
| 27 December 2009 16:15 |
| Harlequins | 20 – 21 | London Wasps |
| Try: Care 68' c Strettle 79' c Con: Evans (2/2) Pen: Evans (2) 13', 18' | Report | Try: Simpson 2' m Hart 74' c Con: Walder (1/1) Pen: Cipriani (2) 23', 35' Walder (1) 62' |
| Twickenham Stadium Attendance: 76,716 Referee: Dave Pearson (RFU) |
- Big Game 2 set a record Premiership attendance of 76,716.[5]
Big Game 3[edit]
| 27 December 2010 16:30 |
| Harlequins | 28 – 18 | London Irish |
| Try: Lowe 69' c Con: Evans (1/1) Pen: Evans (7) 6', 14', 20', 26', 36', 40', 54' | Report | Pen: Malone (6) 13', 18', 29', 38', 47', 59' |
| Twickenham Stadium Attendance: 74,212 Referee: Andrew Small (RFU) |
Big Game 4[edit]
| 27 December 2011 16:30 |
| Harlequins | 11 – 19 | Saracens |
| Try: Marler 47' m Pen: Evans (2) 18', 40' | Report | Try: Strettle 19' c Con: Farrell (1/1) Pen: Farrell (4) 8', 10', 13', 24' |
| Twickenham Stadium 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.[6]
Big Game 5[edit]
| 29 December 2012 14:15 |
| Harlequins | 26 – 15 | London Irish |
| Try: Care 51' c Penalty try 77' c Con: Evans (2/2) Pen: Evans (4) 6', 22', 42', 57' | Report | Pen: Humphreys (5) 12', 24', 48', 55', 61' |
| Twickenham Stadium Attendance: 82,000 Referee: Greg Garner (RFU) |
Big Game 6[edit]
| 28 December 2013 15:00 |
| Harlequins | 22 – 6 | Exeter Chiefs |
| Try: Evans 2' c Walker 31' m Brown 39' c Con: Evans (2/3) 3', 40' Pen: Evans (1/3) 62' | Report | Pen: Steenson (2/2) 7', 43' |
| Twickenham Stadium Attendance: 74,827 Referee: JP Doyle (RFU) |
Big Game 7[edit]
| 27 December 2014 16:30 |
| (1 BP) Harlequins | 25 – 30 | Northampton Saints |
| Try: Lowe 5' m Clifford 59' c Twomey 76' c Con: Swiel (2/3) Pen: Swiel (2/3) 9', 52' | Report | Try: 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[edit]
| 27 December 2015 16:30 |
| (1 BP) Harlequins | 39 – 39 | Gloucester (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' | Report | Try: 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[edit]
| 27 December 2016 16:00 |
| Harlequins | 28 – 24 | Gloucester |
| Try: Marchant (2) 26' m, 58' c Clifford 41' c Con: Jackson (2/3) Pen: Jackson (3/3) 37', 40', 50' | Report | Try: 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[edit]
| 30 December 2017 16:00 |
| (1 BP) Harlequins | 50 – 21 | Northampton 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' | Report | Try: Horne 47' c Groom 52' c Haywood 72' c Con: Myler (3/3) 47', 54', 73' |
| Twickenham Stadium Attendance: 77,825 Referee: JP Doyle |
Big Game 11[edit]
| 29 December 2018 16:00 |
| Harlequins | 20 – 13 | Wasps |
| Try: Dombrandt 0' c Marchant 63' c Con: M. Smith (2/2) 2', 64' Pen: M. Smith (2/2) 18', 37' | report | Try: Stuart 57' c Con: Sopoaga (1/1) 58' Pen: Daly (1/1) 31' Sopoaga (1/2) 68' |
| Twickenham Stadium Attendance: 82,000 Referee: Craig Maxwell-Keys |
Big Game 12[edit]
Men's fixture[edit]
| 28 December 2019 |
| Harlequins | 30–30 | Leicester Tigers |
| Try: Lasike 28' c M. Smith 48' c Robshaw 54' c Con: M. Smith (3/3) 29', 49', 55' Pen: M. Smith (3/3) 3', 35', 63' | Report | Try: Eastmond 43' c Taufua 60' c Veainu 72' c Con: Ford (3/3) 44', 61', 73' Pen: Ford (3/3) 7', 24', 65' |
| Twickenham Stadium Attendance: 75,500 Referee: Matthew Carley |
Women's friendly[edit]
Big Game 13[edit]
Pending developments with the COVID-19 pandemic, Big Game 13 was planned to be held in spring 2021.[8] The game never came to fruition and Harlequins would instead return to Twickenham twice the following season. Big Game 13 was the first time that Harlequins Women had played a Premier 15s match at Twickenham Stadium.[1]
Women's fixture[edit]
| 27 December 2021 13:00 |
| (1 BP) Harlequins Women | 29 – 5 | Wasps Women |
| Try: Breach 37' c Kildunne 43' m Cowell 47' c Konkel 63' m Fletcher 78' c Con: Tuima (2) 38', 48' | Report | Try: Boatman 40' +1 m |
| Twickenham Attendance: 9,000[9] Referee: Nikki O'Donnell |
Men's fixture[edit]
| 27 December 2021 17:00 |
| (1 BP) Harlequins | 41 – 27 | Northampton Saints |
| Try: Dombrandt (3) 6' c, 40' m, 79' c Murley (2) 17' c, 30' c Lynagh 54' m Con: Edwards (3/5) 7', 18', 31' Esterhuizen (1/1) 80' Pen: Edwards (1/1) 72' | Try: Augustus (2) 2' c, 9' c A. Waller 14' c Con: Biggar (3/3) 3', 10', 15' Pen: Biggar (2/2) 33', 44' |
| Twickenham Stadium Attendance: 72,785 Referee: Wayne Barnes |
Big Game 14[edit]
Harlequins intended to play Big Game 14 during the normal festive period. However, due to industrial action they were forced to play their festive fixture against Bristol Bears at Twickenham Stoop and would instead move their round 19 match against Exeter Chiefs to Twickenham.[10] They would return to Twickenham the following month for their annual 'Big Summer Kick-Off' match
Women's fixture[edit]
| 4 March 2023 14:30 |
| Harlequins Women | 25 – 54 | Exeter Chiefs Women (1 BP) |
| Try: Packer 24' c Dow 43' m Sims 62' c Con: McKenzie 25' Tuima 63' Pen: McKenzie (2) 22', 34' | Report | Try: Zackary (2) 3' c, 76' c Allen 13' c Johnson 36' c Jefferies 46' c MacDonald (2) 58' c, 68' m McGillivray 74' c Con: McGoverne (7) 4', 14', 37', 47', 59', 75', 77' |
| Twickenham Attendance: 15,420[9] Referee: Dan Jones |
Men's fixture[edit]
| 4 March 2023 15:00 |
| Harlequins | 40 - 5 | Exeter Chiefs |
| Try: Murley 11' c Bassett 23' c Riley 29' m Marchant (2) 32' c, 57' c Lewies 65' c Con: M. Smith (5/6) 12', 24', 33', 59', 66' | Try: Innard 46' m |
| Twickenham Stadium Attendance: 54,669 Referee: Matthew Carley |
Big Game 15[edit]
Women's fixture[edit]
| 30 December 2023 14:30 |
| Harlequins Women | 19 – 31 | Gloucester-Hartpury Women (1 BP) |
| Try: Sims 33' c Scott 42' m Latsha 56' c Con: Tuima (2/3) 34', 57' | Report | Try: H. Jones 3' c Monaghan 13' c Venner 22' m Tuipulotu 27' c Lund 80' m Con: Sing (3/5) 4', 14', 28' |
| Twickenham Attendance: 16,237 Referee: George Selwood |
Men's fixture[edit]
| 30 December 2023 17:30 |
| (1 BP) Harlequins | 32–26 | Gloucester (2 BP) |
| Try: David (2) 7' m, 19' m Dombrandt 23' m Lamb 43' c Care 54' c Con: M. Smith (2/5) 44', 55' Drop: M. Smith (1/1) 70' | Report | Try: Hastings 11' c McGuigan 51' c May 71' m Penalty try 77' Con: Hastings (2/3) 13', 52' |
| Twickenham Stadium Referee: Adam Leal |
References[edit]
- ^ a b "The Big Game Is Back At Twickenham". Twickenham Stadium. 23 September 2021. Retrieved 13 September 2023.
- ^ "Club-by-club guide - Harlequins". BBC. 1 September 2009. Retrieved 7 January 2014.
- ^ "Twickenham Stadium". Rugby Football Union. Archived from the original on 8 January 2014. Retrieved 7 January 2014.
- ^ "Big Summer Kick-Off". www.quins.co.uk. Retrieved 18 December 2022.
- ^ Sheppard, Callum (23 December 2011). "Big Game 4 ticket sales set new record". The Big Game. Retrieved 28 December 2011.
- ^ "Harlequins 11-19 Saracens". BBC Sport. 27 December 2011. Retrieved 28 December 2011.
- ^ "Leinster make history in first women's club match at Twickenham". The Irish Times. 29 December 2019. Retrieved 3 November 2023.
- ^ "Premiership fixtures announced". Harlequin FC. 29 September 2020.
- ^ a b "Harlequins Women Set New World Record For Club Game Attendance At Big Game 14". 4 March 2023. Retrieved 13 September 2023.
- ^ "'We are devastated' - Harlequins forced to postpone 'Big Game'". amp.rugbypass.com. Retrieved 18 December 2022.
