Before the Six Nations big kick-off Wales" deaf rugby team take on (and thrash ...

The Six Nations may be on the horizon but another Welsh national rugby team took to the field today.

The Wales deaf rugby team took on England, in what was the first international match to be played on artificial turf.

And Wales came out on top emphatically with a 36-3 win, in what rugby fans will be hoping is a good sign ahead of the 2014 Six Nations, which kicks off on Saturday.

It was a dramatic turnaround from last year, when England won 21-8.

To play deaf rugby, there is no need to be profoundly or totally deaf but partial hearing difficulty is necessary.

The Welsh team is the current world deaf rugby champions and visited Estonia last year, playing and winning all of their three games in the country’s capital, Tallinn.

Linked with the Barbarians Community Fund, the Wales deaf rugby union wants to help deaf and hard of hearing children in Wales to participate in rugby union.

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Sophia Cahill, the team’s sign language interpreter, says it is a fantastic time for deaf rugby.

“Going into schools and encouraging children that feel left out or feel that don’t want to be included because they are hard of hearing or deaf and telling them that they can get involved and they can play rugby is brilliant,” she said.

She added that more needs to be done to develop the education and coaching of referees who take charge of matches to allow the game to progress even further.

She said: “It is very difficult communicating while the boys are playing, especially if the referee can’t interact properly with the players, it can become frustrating.

“If there is a stop in play and the coach or the team want tactics to be told, I will come on and use sign language for the boys, just so everyone is included and knows what each team member’s job is.”

She added: “These lads are inspirations to children and it is time for the children to realise the opportunities that they have in front of them and that they can play rugby. Hopefully they will thanks to the community project we have.”

Article source: http://www.wellsjournal.co.uk/Cheddar-s-Adam-Faulkner-England-Deaf-rugby-team/story-20457920-detail/story.html

Before the Six Nations big kick-off Wales" deaf rugby team take on (and thrash ...