CRI听力:Women's Rugby in China

The Shan Dong women crushed Beijing in the rugby sevens finals at the National Games last night.

Many people predicted a Shan Dong win, but no one expected them to win in the way they did.

After receiving two yellow cards in the second half, the Beijing team was playing two down.

Then in an abrupt show of discontent over a reffing decision, the Beijing squad decided to quit playing entirely.

Shan Dong had the remaining minutes to score try after uncontested try while the Beijing players stood in a tight huddle off to the side.

The final score was a humiliating 71 point loss for Beijing.

Womens rugby is an even newer concept in China than mens rugby. The players competing at the national or international level often have just a couple years experience playing the sport.

23-year-old Cong Yun, one of Liaoning's starting backs, was introduced to the sport her sophomore year of college.

"I joined a college team back then. And I have trained for 2 and half years since I joined the provincial team for this National Games."

One of the reasons women’s rugby has struggled to attract players is because there is a social stigma attached to a sport that requires one to tackle, pound, and pummel one's opponent.

That and the prospect of enduring some gruesome injuries.

But there are some Chinese women, who are going against the grain.

Another Liaoning player, Zhang Xue said she doesn't mind a hard hit.

"After all, rugby is not that popular in China and not a lot of people play it. I play it because it has a lot of fun. I began to love it because it is a team sport though the game itself is very firece."

Some of the provincial teams have hired foreign coaches to bring their expertise to the programs.

Former rugby sevens great Thomasi Cama senior has been coaching the Anhui women for two years.

Thomasi's coaching experience includes time spent with the legendary Fiji mens national 15's and 7's squads.

Thomasi said he's seen encouraging progress in women's rugby in China.

"Look at the China rugby now. They are really developing now. They want to make it more up to their level. They want it in the future to become more favored in China.

Attracting future players is another critical component in program development.

But judging by the enthusiasm of some of the young girls who attended the rugby finals yesterday, that shouldn't be a problem.

13 year old, Fa Yu Xin came to watch the finals with her middle school class. She isn't scared of rugby at all. She said she'd even like to play it some day.

"This game is interesting to watch. I don't really understand it, but I really like to watch it."

Even though women's rugby is just getting started in China, the women's national team has already had some measure of international success.

They finished ninth out of 16 in the inaugural women's sevens World Cup in Dubai.

National head coach Zheng Hongjun said now that rugby is an Olympic sport, he has a much larger pool of athletes to choose from.

For CRI, I'm Jordan Lee.