Wallaby captain recalls effect of Hearts & Balls
19 Nov 2016
Almost seventeen years ago, Wallabies captain John Eales was reflecting on a quarter final win over Wales in the 1999 World Cup when he got a call from a work colleague asking him to help four Lismore members who were setting up a charity after one of their players was seriously injured.John did just that and got many of the World Cup teams involved as well as throwing himself into helping out. Shortly afterwards, John helped take the Hearts and Balls concept to Australia and Hearts in Union was created and John is still closely involved.John was in Edinburgh for a speaking engagement this weekend with the Bill McLaren Foundation and took the chance to meet up with Kenny Hamilton from Scottish Rugby’s official charity partner, Hearts & Balls.John reflected on 17 years ago in his speech: “‘My first involvement with a Scottish-based charity was in 1999 when I got involved at the very start with Hearts and Balls and its focus on our team mates and their families who have been impacted by injury.”I saw then what rugby could do that possibly no other sport can do and I’m delighted to be the patron of Hearts & Balls’ sister charity in Australia. – ‘helping rugby help its own’.”
