The New Zealand Falcons have joined with teams from all over the world in a massive, wet and muddy, training session led by representatives of the Wallabies and the Waratahs. It was a sweaty and muddy spectacle as 400 players from New Zealand, US, Canada, UK, Ireland, Amsterdam, and other places around the globe took part in the two-hour session on tackling, defending and passing the ball. The Bingham Cup, which begins in Sydney this Friday, pits gay and gay-friendly teams against each other in one of the largest 15-a-side rugby tournaments in the world. Wallabies Assistant Coach Andrew Blades, himself a former player, helped organise the training session. “We wanted to give them all drills and skills they can take away with them and practice in the future as they go forward with their rugby careers. We want everyone to feel like they’ve got a place in rugby, you don’t want anyone to feel like they’re excluded. I hope that over time players in this tournament will feel like that they can play on any team.” Many of the teams arrived in Sydney earlier this week and have been enjoying the city, including attending drinks at the Opera House bar, watching a special theatre screening of ‘The Rugby Player’ (Mark Bingham documentary) and going on a tour of the city led by one of Australia’s most popular drag queens, Maxi Shield. There will be live audio commentary of the Bingham Cup Grand Finals this weekend through www.binghamcup.com
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Thursday, 28th August 2014 - 10:57am