RUGBY UNION fans will get perspective from both sides of the ball when a prestigious annual gathering is held later this year.

French legend Thomas Castaignede and referee Nigel Owens will be doing the talking at the York Sportsman’s Lunch on November 5.

The duo follow in the footsteps of rugby legends Martin Johnson, Lawrence Dallaglio, Brian O’Driscoll and Francois Pienaar in addressing a sell-out audience of more than 650 at York Racecourse.

Tens of thousands of pounds will be raised for charity, with beneficiaries including The Yorkshire Regiment Benevolent Fund and the Sports Development Foundation, in an event organised by city-based firm Sporting Connexions.

Table hosts will also be asked to nominate their favourite charity and three of those will be drawn on the day and will receive substantial donations.

Castaignede made 54 appearances for the French, the 40-year-old former fly-half part of the squad that reached the final of the World Cup in 1999.

He also played for Toulouse and Castres and spent seven years at Saracens.

Mark Pepper, founder of the event along with Nick Elliot, said he was looking forward to hearing the legendary tales of England-France clashes from a different perspective, while Owens will have recently finished officiating at the Rugby World Cup.

“Thomas is very kindly flying in from France and we are looking forward to hearing his stories,” he said.

“We are lucky enough that, now in our 11th year, we can continue to invite interesting people and from different countries.

“I think there is a genuine interest in the refereeing point of view – they are characters in their own right – and also to get a view from overseas with a French speaker.

“It will be nice to hear it from the other side, from someone else’s perspective, and will be fascinating. Wouldn’t it also be great if Nigel refereed the World Cup final?”

Pepper added: “We had an amazing response. When the invites went out, the 66 tables were gone. That’s a great honour, and we hadn’t even announced the speaker.

“There seems to be an established blueprint and Nick and I certainly don’t take it for granted in these very busy corporate times.

“For nearly 700 people to kindly commit to the lunch without even knowing who is speaking has to be taken as a compliment.”

The event is being sponsored by development firm Grantside for the tenth year.