Rugby players in Rome are supporting Movember, the global, month-long initiative aimed at raising awareness and funds for the cure and treatment of prostate cancer and other diseases that affect men.

With the slogan "Grow a Mo, Save a Bro", signing up fully to Movember means growing a moustache throughout November, to help "change the face of men's health” by encouraging public discourse about an issue that many men often ignore or do not discuss.

The rules are simple and are the same all over the world: you must be totally cleanshaven on 1 November, then grow a moustache for the duration of the month. It is forbidden to have sideburns that would turn the moustache into a beard, and handlebar moustaches should not meet at the chin or they will be considered a goatee.

The Movember movement began in Australia in 1999 before spreading to South Africa, North America and Europe, and it has strong support among the world’s rugby community.

In Rome, the S.S. Lazio Rugby 1927 club has signed up to the initiative since 2010, while the movement also has a firm following at the Shamrock pub, near the Colosseum, which has been involved since 2008. This year the Shamrock is organising a Movember party on Friday 29 November, with proceeds from t-shirt sales being donated to the charity.