RUGBY’S REAL HEROES
TALK OF rugby’s values can be trite, descriptions of acts on a rugby field as heroic or brave can be overused, yet the stories covered on the following pages highlight how special this sporting community is. Elsewhere in this issue of Rugby World we celebrate the work being done by the game’s big names; here we highlight lesser-known stories of those members of the rugby family who have gone above and beyond. Not all heroes wear capes…
RELIEF EFFORT
ON TUESDAY 4 August 2020, a huge explosion of ammonium nitrate in the Port of Beirut killed more than 200 people, injured a further 6,500 and destroyed swathes of buildings. The disaster only added to Lebanon’s problems, with the Covid-19 pandemic and economic collapse already putting the country in crisis.
“Lebanon has gone through hell the past year,” says Lebanon Rugby CEO Sol Mokdad, who was sitting on his seventh-floor balcony just a few kilometres from the port when the explosion happened.
“The ground started shaking, then there was a loud sonic boom, the doors came off their frames and glass shattered. Looking down on the street no one knew what was going on.”
As news of the explosion filtered through, WhatsApp groups flooded with messages checking on everyone’s wellbeing. Fortunately no one involved in the country’s rugby community was seriously injured and they were determined to help, with many heading straight to the danger zone.
“Players went down of their own choice, people ran towards the explosion instead of away from it,” says Mokdad.
“Our medical manager (Wadih Nassif) is heavily involved with the Lebanese Red Cross, so he was helping with immediate relief. Around 50-60 players – kids, women,
