ENVIRONMENTALISTS are set to highlight rugby union’s ”sportwashing” of fossil fuel-linked insurance firms at the Premiership final at Twickenham on Saturday.

As Bath take on Leicester Tigers, Extinction Rebellion (XR) supporters will protest against the ”hypocrisy of the RFU taking money from Allianz, while the insurer is fuelling the climate chaos that is flooding rugby clubs across the country.”

In a press release on Tuesday, the climate campaign group said: ”Up and down the country, pitches are being flooded, with Newark Rugby Club in Nottinghamshire, for example, experiencing six floods last year, causing them major losses and preventing them from being able to offer rugby to their community for long periods of time.

”The climate crisis could not happen without insurance. The oil, gas, and coal industries are legally obliged to insure their operations, including their pipelines, oil rigs, and coal mines.

”Rugby is flooded with insurance money, from Allianz sponsoring the Twickenham stadium, AJ Gallagher sponsoring the premiership final match itself, to Howden sponsoring the British Lions tour.

”This means that the sponsors of rugby are directly responsible for climate disasters disrupting the rugby community and the lives of its fans through their deals supporting planetwide oil, gas and coal extraction.”

Olympic gold medalist Etienne Stott, who will be joining XR’s action, says the campaigners will not be disrupting the match.

”We will be getting the conversation going with rugby fans about how dirty insurance is harming the sport they love,” Scott says.

”We will be calling on the RFU to stop sports-washing floody insurers like Allianz, who are fuelling the climate crisis, which is flooding our clubs.”

The RFU has been approached for comment.