Wokingham’ Aaron Fowler was part of the England visually impaired rugby team who won an international rugby tournament in France last week.
The 32-year-old was part of an 11-man squad who travelled to Toulon to compete against Ireland and France.
England won all four group games before beating an Ireland side containing former Italy International Ian McKinley 15-5 in the final.
Ahead of the competition. the England team had trained ahead at Sutton and Epsom Rugby Club where they are now based.
Aaron said: *It’s been a great opportunity, playing in France and fantastic to see the hard work in training has paid off.
“It’s an exciting time to be involved in a sport which is continuing to grow, and hopefully we’ll continue to see more people playing the game.“
Visually impaired rugby is a seven a side touch rugby game developed by Croydon-based charity The Change Foundation in 2016.
The players must place the ball between their legs after being tackled, like in rugby league, and after six tackles the ball is turned over.
Scrums and line-outs are uncontested and players cannot kick from hand during play.
The pitch itself is two-thirds the size of a full-sized rugby pitch.
The game is now played in England, Wales, Ireland, France, Argentina, Italy, Japan and New Zealand.
There are plans to have a visually impaired rugby six nation’s competition in the future.
