Shaving for a cause

Canadian loose forward Adam Kleeburger was one of the stars of pool play at RWC 2011. The bearded flanker looked as though he had stepped straight out of the bush and onto the world rugby stage!

But Kleeburger is not going to be bearded for much longer; his beard will soon disappear for charity. And what's even better; it's for a New Zealand cause; TSN Canada reports:

Adam Kleeberger, the iconic Canadian flanker that captured so much attention at the Rugby World Cup in New Zealand, is getting ready to take it all off for charity. Kleeberger grew what became a massive beard, both literally and figuratively, that had people buzzing around the rugby world. After his man of the match performance in Canada's win over Tonga - the deal was sealed that he was the face of the team.

Kleeberger is asking his fans to support the Shear the Beard campaign in one of two ways. Because of the great support shown to the Canadian team by New Zealanders during its time at the tournament, Kleeberger is urging donations that would go to helping rebuild Christchurch, the town that was nearly leveled by an earthquake this past February and led to World Cup games being pulled out of the area to other cities around New Zealand. To participate in fund raising for Christchurch Earthquake Relief go to http://donate.rugbycanada.ca/e/Shear_the_Beard

That's fantastic. The Canada team was hugely popular at RWC 2011, and at their match against the All Blacks in Wellington, it was hard to believe the number of Maple Leaf flags being proudly flown. And Adam Kleeburger became the face of the team, not that much of his face was ever visible!

But for those who are fans of facial hair, there's good news; read on:

In Canada Kleeberger would like to see supporters donate to his Movember page. Movember, www.Movember.com, the month formerly known as November, is a month-long campaign where men start clean-shaven and grow a moustache to raise awareness and funds for cancers affecting men, specifically prostate cancer. Kleeberger's 'Shear the Beard' will get him ready to grow a big hairy ribbon for 30 days starting Movember 1, 2011. To support Adam's Movember campaign - go to http://mobro.co/SheartheBeard.

"Having the beard has been interesting, but frankly I am ready to have my face back in prep of crafting a Mo," explained Kleeberger, who is still in New Zealand vacationing with family until just prior to the event on October 17th. "It will be good to take this off - but if I can raise money for some good causes as well - then I can stand it for another couple of weeks."

Details of where and when Adam will have his beard sheared on the 17th will be revealed in the next few days but in the mean time use Facebook and Twitter tools on both websites to spread the appeal through all these popular social networks.

It will be interesting to see a piccie of the denuded Kleeburger face, and we'll go looking for one after October 17th. In the meantime though, we'll go to the SheratheBeard website and donate, and we urge readers to do likewise.

Thanks a whole bunch Adam Kleeburger. Your generosity to the people of Christchurch is sincerely appreciated by this rugby fan at least!