World record for rugby passes set

Photo / Hawke's Bay Today

It took three attempts, but a group of Auckland secondary school children have succeeded in breaking the world record for most rugby passes.

The attempt, involving several students from high school first 15 teams in Auckland, was held at Eden Park as part of events to mark being one year from the start of the Rugby World Cup.

The students were out to break the previous record of 262, set in 2005 at Edinburgh. Each pass had to be at least 5m, no forward passing was allowed, and the passes had to be given and received within the boundaries of a rugby field.

Prime Minister John Key made the first pass of the first effort. All was going well but the ball hit the ground about the 200 pass mark.

The second attempt fell even shorter, ending about 150.

A third attempt was launched, and this time it made it to 270, breaking the record.

- NZPA