September 27th 2023.
Ben Cohen has been praised for his bravery to take part in a rugby prison rehabilitation programme. In the documentary Grand Slammers, he was joined by his former England teammates and Rugby World Cup winners from 2003. The group, which included Martin Johnson, Mike Tindall, Lawrence Dallaglio and Jonny Wilkinson, delivered rugby training to inmates at HMP The Mount.
Although Ben hesitated to accept the offer, his fiancee Kristina Rihanoff expressed her fear that his traumatic memories would be ‘triggered’. This is due to the tragic death of his father, Peter Cohen, who died from a blood clot in 2000 after being beaten up while attempting to stop a bar fight. His attackers were sentenced to three years in prison, and Ben said he thought it wasn’t long enough.
While viewers of Grand Slammers were touched to see Ben take part in the show, despite his personal pain, Ben himself discussed that he wanted to keep looking forward. He said, ‘All of this kind of stuff is going through my head and you can let it chew you up and spit it out. But I know one thing my dad would want is me keep looking forward.’
Fans on social media rushed to praise Ben for his courage. One fan tweeted, ‘Such a difficult decision for Ben to go into the prison after what happened to his beloved dad. Credit where credit is due. #GrandSlammers’. Another wrote, ‘Fair play to all the 2003 England Rugby team taking part in this, but especially Ben Cohen. Clearly not an easy one for him but he’s taking no sh*t. And fair play they all seem to have their total respect #Rugby #rugbyworldcup2023 #GrandSlammers’.
The documentary also featured a cameo from Mike’s mother-in-law, Princess Anne, as he and teammate Phil Vickery discussed the rehab programme while at Royal Ascot. He jokingly told her, ‘You can join the coaching staff if you’d like.’
All in all, Ben Cohen and his former Rugby World Cup teammates have been praised for their noble efforts, and viewers are looking forward to the rest of the documentary. Grand Slammers continues at 9pm on Thursday on ITV1.
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