Rwanda Team 2011
The members of the 2011 Rugby team have been selected! They will arrive in Kigali on March 20!
Rwanda Rugby on CNN
During the Silverbacks tour to Hong Kong there was a 10 day long media frenzy. From a live interview on CNN to newspapers magazines and radio it was hard to avoid knowing the team were in town! Click here for one of the CNN articles and video footage of the tour.
Rwanda Rugby in the South China Morning Post
My Dream Come True
None of the Rwandan rugby players have ever been on a plane before- and this is their first trip out of East Africa. The lights and landscape of Hong Kong are quite a sight for everyone, but especially for the team who live in Kigali- a city with no skyscrapers or light shows.
Since the team arrived at the airport on Monday night, they have repeatedly said that this trip is their “dream come true.”
Our goal: to make this an annual event so even more Rwandan rugby players can enjoy the beauty and experience of Hong Kong.
On the boat ride around Hong Kong harbour
Thank you Matteo Party!
Matteo Party, the party products superstore, in Hong Kong graciously provided free costume rentals for all the Rwandan Rugby team. They decided to go as Santa Claus- since this trip to Hong Kong is like an early Christmas present!
They will wear these costumes when they attend the Hong Kong International 7s Tournament this weekend!!
Welcome to Hong Kong!!
The Rwandan rugby team arrived in Hong Kong on Sunday!!
None of them slept on the flight because they were too excited about their first plane ride. They were up bright and early on Tuesday morning to pick up their rugby kit, donated by Tsunami Sport, and to train with another rugby team, the New Zealand Aliens!
Getting ready for the first training session
Some of the players were interviewed by a sports journalist from the South China Morning Post.
The team walked around the city with Dave Hughes and family to see the sights of Hong Kong.
Taking their first ride on the MTR
A boat ride around the Hong Kong harbour gave them a view of the city from the water.
A team from CNN is following the rugby team around Hong Kong for the week to document their experience here and their participation in the Kowloon 10s Tournament. A feature news piece will be aired this weekend during the Rugby 7s.
New Media about Rwanda Rugby!
RWANDANS READY FOR HISTORIC HONG KONG TOUR
Hong Kong is about to witness rugby history as Rwanda’s national team, the Silverbacks, prepare to make their debut in the territory.
A 13-man squad, plus coach and manager, will make the long journey from East Africa later this month to play in the Kowloon RugbyFest, a 10-a-side tournament featuring teams from around the world.
The Silverbacks – named after Rwanda’s signature mountain gorillas – will also benefit from training sessions with elite coaches and go to watch the world famous Hong Kong Sevens in what promises to be the rugby trip of a lifetime.
“Many of the guys have never been outside Rwanda, never seen the sea and never flown,” says Hong Kong-born rugby enthusiast and Rwanda volunteer worker Dave Hughes, who is organising the project.
“The visit will be a real eye-opener for them and hopefully something that will encourage and inspire them for the rest of their lives.
“On a more general level, we hope it will be a massive boost for rugby in Rwanda. The country has some naturally talented players and with the right coaching and support the sport could really take off in the same way that it has in Kenya and, to a lesser extent, Uganda.”
When the Silverbacks land in Hong Kong on 21 March it will complete a remarkable story that began in 2008 when Hughes was working as a chartered surveyor in the UK.
After reading a book about the 1994 Rwandan genocide, he resigned from his job and flew to the country to work as a volunteer, helping set up a vocational training school for women.
While travelling to work in the capital, Kigali, he was astonished to see some youngsters playing with a rugby ball on a patch of waste ground. “I had no idea rugby even existed in that part of Africa,” he reveals.
He made further enquires and soon became involved in Rwanda’s fledging rugby scene, playing, coaching and organising tournaments.
After returning to Hong Kong last year, he hit on the idea of bringing the Rwandans over to play in the territory’s Festival of Rugby – a week-long series of tournaments that culminates in the Sevens.
Hong Kong’s rugby community embraced the project and offers of help poured in. “People have been very generous and without their help there is no way we could have made this happen,” says Hughes.
The Team!
The team traveling to Hong Kong has been announced!
13 players were selected by a committee made up of officials from the Rwanda Rugby Federation and the Kigali sports community.
Hong Kong Radio!
Dave Hughes was recently interviewed on RTHK, one of the largest radio stations in Hong Kong. Listen to the interview. (Scroll to the bottom of the page and click on one of the images next to the text: Dave Hughes on a fund-raising effort to bring Rwanda’s national rugby team”
