ERROL PARKER | Editor-at-large | Contact
Moving to a new city can be daunting, especially if it’s work-related and to a place where you know nobody at all.
That’s what happened to South Betoota-native, Morris Chambers, who was relocated by Santos late last month from his quite Californian Bungalow on the City’s limits, to London.
Though he told The Advocate he was quite nervous about making the move, the 29-year-old engineer said he’s settling in ‘really well’ after making new friends at his new local rugby club.
However, the outgoing Taurus thought he played his last game of rugby in his third-year of university – telling himself he was done with feeling battered and bruised each Sunday morning.
“Boy, was I wrong,” said Chambers, as he lit his fourth Gitanes of the Skype interview.
“Until I moved over here to London, I never would’ve even considered pulling the boots on again. Let alone my cricket spikes. But, you know, how else to men in their late 20s make new friends?”
“At work? Give me a fucking break, I’m an engineer. My workmates are about as interesting as free-to-air television after midnight. Rugby was the only way I was going to meet normal people. People like me.”
Initially, he regretted the decision.
The explosive return to cardio made him feel like death was just around the corner. His lungs burned and his legs ached after each training session.
But those horrible feelings drifted away each time he went to the pub for tea with his teammates.
Slowly but surely, as his fitness improved, the flanker began to enjoy the game like he used to a schoolboy.
“I thought, by Joh, I’m actually having fun,” he said.
“I’m having fun despite getting hit late all the time and lifted above the horizontal. I’ve been punched and punched people back. It’s hilarious,”
“I feel alive.”
More to come.
