The Hearts and Balls Charitable Trust, sometimes stylized as Heart+Balls [1] is a Scottish registered charity. [2]
The charity was founded in 1999 following a spinal injury suffered by Struan Kerr-Liddell of the Lismore Rugby Club, and exists to support rugby players and their families in the aftermath of serious injury on the field.
As of 2022, Hearts+Balls had provided over £700,000 in aid. [3]
They enter a men’s and women's sevens side into many Sevens tournaments around Scotland, England and Dubai. They usually denote the side as HBMB7 - or Hearts and Balls MB 7s. [4]
Rugby sevens is a variant of rugby union in which teams are made up of seven players playing seven-minute halves, instead of the usual 15 players playing 40-minute halves. Rugby sevens is administered by World Rugby, the body responsible for rugby union worldwide. The game is popular at all levels, with amateur and club tournaments generally held in the summer months. Sevens is one of the most well distributed forms of rugby, and is popular in parts of Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Americas, and especially in the South Pacific.
Andrew Gavin Hastings, is a Scottish former rugby union player. A fullback, he is widely regarded to be one of the best ever Scottish rugby players and was one of the outstanding players of his generation, winning 61 caps for Scotland, 20 of which as captain. He played for Watsonians, London Scottish, Cambridge University, Scotland and the British Lions. He twice toured with the Lions, to Australia in 1989 and as captain on the 1993 tour to New Zealand.
Scott Hastings is a Scottish sports commentator and former Scotland international rugby union player. At the point of his retirement he was Scotland's most-capped player ever, but this record has now been beaten. He played for Edinburgh District and when that provincial side turned professional he played for Edinburgh Rugby. At amateur level he played for Watsonians.
James Edward McGrory was a Scottish footballer who played for Celtic and Clydebank as a forward and then went on to manage Kilmarnock before returning to Celtic as manager after the end of the Second World War.
Ayr Rugby Football Club is a rugby union club. Its professional men's side currently plays as Ayrshire Bulls in the Super 6 competition; and its women's side play in the Scottish Womens National One. The club also runs a "Club XV" which competes in the Tennent's National League 1, a 2nd XV "Ayr-Millbrae", which plays in the SRU West Reserve League Division 1, and various age group teams, from age 4, up to age 18.
Boroughmuir RFC is a rugby union club in the Scottish Rugby Union. The club's home ground is Meggetland, in southwest Edinburgh and the club plays in the Super 6, where they are known as the Boroughmuir Bears.
Edinburgh Academical Football Club, also known as Edinburgh Accies, is a rugby union club in Edinburgh, Scotland. The club is currently a member of the Scottish Premiership, the top tier of Scottish club rugby. Its home ground is Raeburn Place, in Stockbridge, Edinburgh. The team is coached by Iain Berthinussen.
Edinburgh Wanderers is a former rugby union club, founded in 1868. It was latterly a tenant of the Scottish Rugby Union, playing home fixtures at Murrayfield Stadium for nearly 75 years. In 1997 it merged with Murrayfield RFC to form Murrayfield Wanderers.
Kelly Brown is a Scottish rugby union coach and former player. He won 64 caps for the Scotland national team, and played club rugby for Glasgow Warriors, Border Reivers and Saracens as a flanker. He retired from playing in 2017 to become a coach with Saracens' academy. Brown moved to an Assistant Coach position at Glasgow Warriors in 2020 before returning to Saracens in 2021.
Glasgow High Kelvinside , often abbreviated to GHK, is an amateur rugby union club in Glasgow, Scotland. They currently play in Scottish National League Division One.
Donald Shade Munro is a Scottish rugby union player, who played at lock/second row.
Stuart William Hogg is a Scottish professional rugby union player. He has represented Scotland at international level, having made his test debut against Wales during the 2012 Six Nations Championship. He was Scotland's all-time leading try-scorer.
John Shaw is a Scottish former rugby union player and coach and now referee who played for Glasgow Warriors at the Flanker position.
Scott William Forrest is a Scottish retired rugby union player who competed in rugby sevens at 2010 Commonwealth Games, serving as captain of the national team at the event. He is the head coach of the Scotland Women 7s squad and the Great Britain Women 7s team for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Nick Grigg is a rugby union player, who currently plays as a midfield back for Hawke's Bay in New Zealand's domestic National Provincial Championship competition and the Miami Sharks in Major League Rugby.
The Co-Optimist Rugby Club is an invitational rugby union club founded in 1924 by Jock Wemyss, the former Scottish test player, together with George St Claire Murray, a rugby enthusiast from the Watsonians club.
Hutchesons' GSFP RFC was an amateur rugby union club in Glasgow, Scotland. The club no longer exists. In 1990, they merged with rivals Old Aloysians RFC to form Hutchesons Aloysians.
Marshall Sykes is a Scottish rugby union player who currently plays for Edinburgh Rugby in the United Rugby Championship.
Dundee University RFC is a rugby union club based in Dundee, Scotland. The club operates a men's team and a women's team. Both currently play in the university leagues.
