The 6’6″ lock and the 120kg tighthead may not possess the ideal frames for long-distance cycling, making this an impressive endeavour for the duo from Pontypridd. Read more about the challenge – and how you can donate – here.
They aren’t the only rugby stars making good use of their time in lockdown, with players past and present raising thousands of pounds for various charities:
Last weekend saw the latest of WRU Performance Director Ryan Jones’s incredible feats of endurance, as the former Wales captain ran 100 miles on a treadmill in his kitchen in continuing support of various NHS charities. This extreme test of physical and mental durability followed on from Jones’s marathon in his garden and riding 100 miles on an indoor exercise bike.​
Rugby legend Shane Williams, intent on making up for the numerous postponed charity events in which he was due to partake this year, set himself the challenge of recovering the lost 774 miles with an indoor cycling challenge. Williams was raising money for Velindre Cancer Charity.
Cross-code international Jonathan ‘Jiffy’ Davies, president of Velindre NHS Trust, has raised almost five times his intended target as he cycles a marathon distance every day for 10 days as part of the 2.6 Challenge. And he’s been joined on his journey by some other big names from the world of rugby.
Over in Gwent, ​seven members of the Dragons squad have turned the negative of a cancelled trip to Marbella into a positive: riding 1566 miles – the distance from Newport to the Costa del Sol resort – between them to raise money for NHS Charities.