Harlequins have broken yet another world record for attendance at a Women’s club game, with 18,055 recorded for their PWR clash with Leicester Tigers at Allianz Stadium.
The Londoners now sit top of the table in the PWR thanks to a 42-17 win against the Tigers at their showpiece event at the home of English rugby.
Harlequins Women shatter world record for Women’s club attendance
This is the fourth year in a row that Harlequins have broken the record, with the first coming in Big Game 13, and it also beat last year’s total of 16, 238 by over 1,800 supporters.
Commenting on the news, Harlequins Women’s head coach, Ross Chisholm, said: “We are immensely proud to break yet another World Record at Big Game 16. We are entering what will be a huge year for the women’s game and this is a fantastic way to kick that off.
He added: “This has been a whole-club effort and on behalf of everyone at Harlequins I would like to thank the supporters who came out today to be part of this World Record. We look forward to seeing you when we take on Saracens later next month at The Stoop.”
In order to record the attendance for just the Women’s game, which was part of a blockbuster double header with the Men’s teams of both Quins and Tigers, high-resolution 360 imagery and specialist software were used to tag and count the number of supporters sat watching the game. Harlequins also partnered with Photography company Panoramic Imaging with their CrowdCam systems to confirm the record-breaking attendance.
The crowd were also treated to a spectacular Harlequins win on the day as they ran in eight tries, with World Rugby Women’s Player of the Year Ellie Killdunne grabbing two.
This is also another huge boost for the league, with global superstar Ilona Maher – who is the most followed rugby player on social media – recently penned a deal with Bristol Bears.
Big Game 16 was also a roaring success for the Men’s team too, with a whopping 82,000 sellout crowd packing in to the Allianz Stadium to see an entertaining 34-all draw between Quins and Leicester.
Cult hero Dan Cole nabbed a last-gasp try in the 79th minute, and later Springboks fly-half Handre Pollard tied the game from the tee.
Src: Planetrugby.com - https://www.planetrugby.com/news/this-has-been-a-whole-club-effort-harlequins-shatter-own-world-record-for-club-game-attendance
