Rugby fans from Milton Keynes set new record for most World Cup matches attended

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Two rugby fans from Milton Keynes have broken the Guinness World Record for most World Cup tournament matches attended.

Gary Spinks, 62, and Keith Hibbert, 56, attended 29 games at this year’s Rugby World Cup – breaking the Guinness World Record (28) set in 2015.

The duo, often joined by fellow fan Derek Nye, travelled 10,000 miles around France and walked a further 550 kilometres, raising money for their local club, Milton Keynes Rugby Union Football Club. (MKRUFC)

Record breakers - from left, Keith Hibbert, Gary Spinks and Derek Nye

They travelled by road and rail to set a new record for the most games watched at a single Rugby World Cup tournament.

The pair initially planned to take in 28 games, starting with the host nation’s opening 27-13 victory over New Zealand on Friday, September 8.

But shortly after the tournament began, mate Derek – who has been with them for most of the games they attended, found there was a Guinness World Record to be broken if they could get tickets for one more fixture.

The group already had tickets for Japan v Chile at 1pm local time on Sunday, September 10, after which they were able to drive from Toulouse to Bordeaux to watch the clash between Wales and Fiji later that evening.

All road journeys were made in Gary’s car which had been liveried up with World Cup stickers before setting off.

The seven-week trip not only helped helped raise funds for MKRUFC where they are both members, but was also held to support Ed Slater, a former MK junior player now stricken with Motor Neurone Disease.

Gary said: “We didn’t go with any plans to break a world record, but when we found out how close we were going to come to the current record, we knew we had to go the extra mile.

“We’ve seen some great games and stayed on for the rest of the tournament.”

The final was won by South Africa who beat New Zealand All Blacks 12 -11 in a thrilling match last Saturday.

England finished third after their hopes of winning the trophy were ended after agonisingly losing by a point to South Africa in the semi-final.