Rugby stars get SAS training ahead of Ukraine trip

The team have been put through their paces ahead of the trip to the war-torn country

Rugby players have been prepped by SAS instructors ahead of a trip to Ukraine.

A team including former Scotland international David Hilton and Worcester Warrior Chris Jones will travel to the war-ravaged country in January.

Before delivering supplies, about 30 players will play a match against the Ukraine national team at the country's border.

In preparation for the trip, they trained in Shropshire with Rob Paxman, who has worked as a close protection instructor for the SAS for two decades.

The international rugby players plan to play a match against the Ukraine national team at the country's border

The trip has been organised by the charity 100 World Legends.

The team's four-day journey will take them through Europe via Luxembourg and onto a border of Ukraine where they hope the match will take place.

In Whitchurch, players were given war zone training including how to spot roadside bombs, the threat of kidnap and missile strikes.

Mr Paxman said: "The further we get into this the more they have to act as a team to extricate themselves from a potentially hostile environment."

Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. Since then hundreds of thousands of people have died, including Oleksi Tsibko a former skipper of the Ukraine national team who went on to become his country's rugby union president.

Danny Ligairi, who used to play rugby for Worcester, is part of the charity.

"What's missing from Ukraine is that they played rugby three months before the Russian invasion and the idea of the 100 World Legends project is bringing a sense of community rugby and sport back to the civilians in Ukraine," he said.

Danny Ligairi says the group hope to lift the spirits of civilians and bring rugby back to the country