Wales rugby: Christ Tshiunza thanks former PE teacher

Welsh rugby's newest star has thanked the teachers at his old school, which has coached some of the nation's sporting greats.

Christ Tshiunza, 19, made his debut against Fiji on Sunday - only 18 months after playing for the school team at Whitchurch High in Cardiff.

The school has previously nurtured talents such as Sam Warburton, Gareth Bale and Geraint Thomas.

His former coach praised him as "a damn good bloke" and a "special talent".

Tshiunza, who moved to Wales from the Democratic Republic of Congo at the age of 10, presented his first jersey to his former PE teacher, Whitchurch High's director of rugby Steve Williams.

Mr Williams told BBC Radio Wales Breakfast he attended the match on Sunday and "thoroughly enjoyed it - it was a bit of a big surprise really".

"We watched his cap presentation on a Zoom and then the biggest surprise was we went down to the pitchside after about an hour and there he was waiting with his cap on," he said.

"I was absolutely thrilled to bits. It's amazing when you think about it, it's only 18 months since he was playing in the school team. Sunday was certainly a massive thrill for me, I've been involved with rugby for about 50 years but I've never had anything like that, an absolutely tremendous day."

'Is it something in the school dinners?'

The young Tshiunza had never played rugby before when he was invited along by some of his classmates at Whitchurch High.

"The lads in the school said 'why don't you come along and play with us?', they brought him to the school team and they took him to Rhiwbina Rugby Club as well," said Mr Williams.

He described Tshiunza as "a damn good bloke," who made sure his friends, family and former teachers got the "royal treatment" at the stadium on Sunday.

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"He's a tremendous character... a very well-rounded young man. He's always had the consistency and a very strong family background to make sure that he keeps his feet on the ground. He was well-liked by everyone in the school, he always had a big smile on his face and of course he did work tremendously hard.

"It's an incredible journey isn't it really? Everybody sees him as that special talent that can be fast-tracked."

But he added the road to success has not been easy - and the school's latest protegé was prepared to put in the work.

"When you've got to fill a 6ft 6ins frame and you're a bit long and gangly when you're a young man it takes a tremendous amount of eating and hard work as well," he said.

'I can reach for the stars'

He added he had introduced Tshiunza to Sam Warburton, who has been giving his advice and support as he deals with his newfound fame.

"I did mention to Sam that we thought Christ was going to be a real good'un and he took a lot of interest in him," said Mr Williams.

"When you can take your lead from the captain of Wales and a double British Lions skipper then you don't need any better example to follow."

After coaching so many to success in a variety support, Mr Williams joked that maybe it was something in the school dinners at Whitchurch High.

"Sam is a frequent visitor to the school and has often taken part in training sessions with us... all the players just stand on his every word.

"They see these people and they think 'hang on, I can reach for the stars here if I want to', it's been done before - they're not one-offs."