England shirts will carry the logo in support of the Canterbury Rugby Earthquake Relief Charitable Trust

ENGLAND will be supporting the rebuilding of Christchurch by wearing the Canterbury Rugby Earthquake Relief Charitable Trust logo on their playing shirts for tomorrow’s match against the Crusaders.

And they will donate 10 specially embroidered shirts signed by the squad to be auctioned off in aid of the Trust.

England captain Chris Robshaw said: “We wanted to do something as a squad to support the region and its rugby after all it has been through. There is a lot of hard work going into the rebuilding of the city and this is just a small gesture as a thank you for hosting us.”

Todd Blackadder, Head Coach of the Crusaders who will be presenting a framed Crusaders jersey to England, said:  “This game will be a special occasion for both teams and for the Christchurch public who were gutted to miss out on hosting England during the 2011 Rugby World Cup because of the earthquakes.

“We are immensely grateful to the England team and the RFU for including this Crusaders game on their itinerary.  There is already a natural affinity between Christchurch and England but the support we have received from the RFU since the earthquakes has definitely strengthened that bond.”

Crusaders CEO Hamish Riach added: “This is yet another show of generosity to our city from the RFU.  In 2011 they allowed us to host a Super Rugby game at Twickenham at very short notice and helped to raise a significant amount of money for the Red Cross Christchurch Earthquake Fund.  We are thrilled to now have the England team in Christchurch  and the kind donation of jerseys to the Canterbury Rugby Earthquake Relief Charitable Trust will be of huge benefit to rugby in this region.”