Bingham Cup hosts to be announced

The Sydney Convicts will announce the winner of the bid to host the 2012 Bingham Cup at an event at the Beresford Hotel on Wednesday, September 29 from 7.30 pm.

On the night, Sydney will take part in a live video hookup with bid rivals Manchester and members of the International Gay Rugby Association and Board in London who will announce the result.

Sydney Convicts president Andrew Purchas said he was “quietly confident” about their chances — “but it’s going to come down to the wire”.

“It’s going to be very close between us and Manchester. Most of the teams are in the US and UK and the economic situation in both those areas is still not good, so with some of those clubs there’s a bit of a mental barrier about travelling so far.

“However, our bid preparation has been strong and the support overwhelming so we’re hoping that’s convinced those people that the work and effort to get out here will be worth it.

“We’re also confident because we’ve got such good sponsorship support and that will enable us to provide significant assistance to those people.”

Purchas said people should look forward to a fun night at the Beresford, with some famous faces dropping by.

“We’re hoping to have some of the Wallabies attend and some of the other high profile personalities that have been involved in our bid.
“There’ll be some videos and speeches, and food and alcohol put on.”

Purchas said it was important to thank the many people who’d supported the bid in getting this far.

“We’ve probably had 50 people who have had direct involvement in the bid, and we’ve had 4000-5000 people who have either joined our Facebook site or have watched the bid video online,” he said.

“We’ve been absolutely overwhelmed with the support from the gay community, the rugby community, and the general mainstream community.

“We’d like to thank everyone for what they’ve provided. We’ve probably had close to $60,000 in in-kind goods and services donated to help us to put this all together. That’s an amazing effort and we’re certainly appreciative of everyone’s support — and fingers crossed, we’re going to win this.”

info: The Beresford Hotel, Surry Hills, September 29, 7.30 pm.