MPs travelled to Russell in Northland on 26 June 2026 to play a day of charity rugby and netball at Russell Sports Club. The event, called the 'Rumble in Russell', took place across two venues: a netball match at Russell School in the morning, then a rugby warm-up game and the main match between the Parliamentary Rugby Team and a Russell Invitation XV at the sports club. Admission was free, according to RNZ.

The day was designed as a grassroots fundraiser for the community. Russell sits in the Far North electorate, well outside the parliamentary corridor in Wellington. Getting a side of sitting MPs together for a trip that far north requires careful planning around the parliamentary calendar.

The Parliamentary Rugby Team runs five or six of these charity fixtures a year at venues around the country, sometimes working with other parliamentary sports teams. Adding netball to the rugby programme is increasingly common — the team pairs different codes when they can find willing players. Having both matches serve a fundraising purpose keeps the event grounded in community benefit, something the MPs are aware of given public scrutiny of parliamentary travel.

For a small club like Russell Sports Club, a free match featuring MPs carries real advantages. The novelty factor — playing against sitting Members of Parliament — helps sell raffle tickets and fills the clubrooms afterward. Regional clubs like those in the Bay of Islands rely heavily on marquee events to build their fundraising calendar across the year.

The broader context here is that the Parliamentary Rugby Team's charity matches are among the few recurring activities that cross party lines and put MPs in the same jersey rather than across the chamber from each other. In a Parliament that has run at high temperature for much of this term, these fixtures offer a small but genuine space where politicians work toward a shared goal.