Going to New Zealand with CAU in my heart

Alvar Jimeno leaves for New Zealand today. It must be said that a suitcase loaded with luggage and with great enthusiasm is being carried. 19,266 kilometers from home, Valencian lands in Christchurch and continues to grow as a rugby player and as a person. After the summer he talked to different teams and eventually played for Belfast. “The most complicated thing we can say is getting a visa to stay there,” he admits.

In fact, Alwar, born on December 15, 1997, has been preparing for this trip for years. For his father’s 50th birthday, the Lions XV member spent a few months in New Zealand. I wanted to go back. He was going to do it three years ago, but a lack of visa prevented him from doing so, and French club AS Béziers Hérault crossed his path. In 2021 he returned to his former club VRAC in Valladolid and continued to develop and work towards the 2023 World Cup as well as other international competitions.

Qualifying for the tournament was one of the happiest moments in Azhwar’s sporting career. An entire generation: “We’re finally appealing to a lot of people.” In May 2022, 40,000 people flocked to the Wanda to watch the Spanish team take on the classic All Blacks. But rugby and the whole country was about to take a big blow when the Lions found out they were going to be out of the World Cup due to improper maintenance: “It’s a shame because everything we’ve progressed over the years costs a lot to maintain.” , there is a whole generation of great players who will not be at the next World Cup because of their age».

If nothing happens, Alwar is one of those who can play the tournament in 2027. Although the sense of helplessness in the unfair situation continued with Valencian, he did not give up. He returned home this summer and prepared himself to stay in shape at CAU. As fate would have it, he finally made his debut in the senior team of the club of his life: “I left young and I was very excited to play in the first team”. At CAU they are now in Belfast a bit too.