MPs travelled to Russell in Northland on 26 June 2026 to play rugby and netball for charity. The day was called the 'Rumble in Russell' and raised money for the local community.

The event happened at two places. A netball match was held at Russell School first. Then came a rugby warm-up game and the main match — the MPs' team against a Russell Invitation XV — at Russell Sports Club. Entry was free, according to RNZ.

The Parliamentary Rugby Team runs five or six fundraising matches a year at different towns around the country. Russell is in the Far North electorate, well away from Wellington where Parliament sits. Getting a team of MPs together and sending them that far north means planning around the parliamentary calendar — the team had to choose a time when Parliament wasn't sitting.

Adding netball to the rugby day is becoming more common for these tours. Both matches served a fundraising purpose, which mattered. Any time MPs travel, people watch to make sure it's not just a trip disguised as work, so having a clear fundraising goal helps.

For Russell, hosting a free match with a team of MPs was a straightforward win. Small clubs outside the cities count on big events to bring people through the door and raise money. A match against MPs has novelty value that shifts raffle tickets and fills the clubhouse afterwards.

The Parliamentary Rugby Team has worked with community rugby for years. Its annual charity matches are one of the few activities where MPs play in the same jersey rather than facing off across Parliament — and that matters in a Parliament that has been running at high temperature for much of this term.