Rugby

When we decided to move to Shenzhen, Joe was very happy to learn that they had a Gaelic football club here in the city.  Sadly, once we got here we learned that the club isn't very active and they don't have many tournaments during the year.  Joe was put in contact with the local Rugby club, the Shenzhen Dragons, which happen to be the reigning champions of China, and decided to go to a few training sessions to check it out.  Joe loved the training from day one, decided to join the club, and he hasn't looked back.  They started their twice weekly training sessions in early August and Joe had to learn the game from scratch.  Fortunately, the lads on the team noticed his size, strength, and athleticism and took extra care to teach him as much as possible at every opportunity.

After about a month of training, Joe was asked to join a group of the strongest players to play in a beach tournament in Macau.  He said yes, of course!  We were excited to visit Macau because we have heard amazing things about this former Portuguese territory!  Joe was one of ten players on the team and the tournament was one day of 5v5 matches that lasted 20 minutes each.  Despite still not really knowing the rules of the game, Joe had a great tournament and got more comfortable as the day went on.  The Dragons all played well in a very physical tournament and they made it to the finals against a University team from Hong Kong.  The game went to extra time and they finished 30 minutes of play even on the scoreboard.  Much to everyone's displeasure, the champion was decided by a relay race that the Dragons lost closely.  The runner-up finish is the best Shenzhen has ever done in this tournament and was a great result considering their squad of ten players competed against all the other teams of 12.  Everyone was exhausted at the end of the final match and the boys were so dirty from the day's buildup of sweat and sand, but it was a fun day!

There were professional photographers at the Macau Beach tournament and one of them captured this shot!

Joe loved the competition and the contact and quickly endeared himself to his fellow club mates.  He played great defense, carried the ball well, and no one could believe that he had never played rugby before.  Joe says his football background helps him a lot in rugby and he loves it!  His teammates chose him as player of the day, an amazing honor that he was humbled by and Lindsay was very proud of him for it!

The Shenzhen Dragons Men's team before the tournament started.

Both men's and women's teams after the tournament ended.  Gross.

We have always wished that Lindsay could have seen Joe play football in high school,
but watching him play rugby is pretty close!

Some of the Shenzhen Dragons after last month's match at Guangzhou.

Joe was also invited to play, along with a couple dozen of the best Shenzhen men and women, for Valley Rugby Football Club in Hong Kong.  Valley is the best and most successful club in Hong Kong and they invited the Shenzhen Dragons to send some of their better players to play with them in the Hong Kong rugby league.  This is great for all of the Shenzhen players because the China league games are once per month, but the Hong Kong league is every weekend from October through March.  Joe is fortunate because he is gaining valuable experience playing with Valley and he is loving it.  As of December 1, he has played four games with Valley and two with Shenzhen and he is more comfortable each match.  He says he wishes he would have started playing rugby ten years ago, but he is enjoying the competition and the challenge!

Nigel and Jon both play with Joe for Shenzhen and Valley HK, they are both from Wales and this picture was taken after they all played their first match with Valley this year.

Joe is right in the middle of this scrum!

He has to literally lift guys up several times throughout each match!

Joe was selected by the Valley coaches as Forward of the Match for his performance two weeks ago.  A huge honor on a great team!