Features
Monday, 30 November 2009 11:11
Written by Ned Kelly

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Shanghai Rugby players in get-naked-together shocka!

And there’s a Spot of flesh-flashing on Tongren Lu too…

Having moved to a brand spanking new ground and placed themselves at the heart of half of the sporting activity that this city has to offer, you might feel you have seen enough of the Hairy Crabs this year. If that’s the case, you are in for a rather rude awakening in 2010, as you are about to see a whole lot more of them.

Yup, you’ve guessed it for, as we all know, if there is one thing that rugby players like more than playing rugby, it is getting their kit off together. On this occasion, however, it’s not in the middle of the street, traffic cone on head, as part of some bizarre initiation ceremony, but rather under the guise of ‘a good cause’ in the form of a charity calendar, and we can’t argue with that.

“We did one in 2008 and it was a great success, raising over RMB20,000 for Xinxing, a local charity, and this year we are looking to surpass that,” explains coach John Woodbury. This year the recipients will be Leo’s Foundation (www.leosfoundation.org) a foundation for newborns with respiratory failure that offers the medical facilities of Fudan Children’s Hospital to families who would otherwise be unable to afford them.

As with last time, they will launch the calendar with a party at Club D2 on the 12th of the month, where life sized portraits of the players will be auctioned off to raise extra cash. And to get people in the mood to splash the cash there will be two-for-one drinks all night. You can expect them looking real pretty in those pictures too…

“We all had some rather crazy make-up on; one winger looked uncannily like Ziggy Stardust, and for some reason the second team captain was painted gold!” recalls Woodberry. “The two evenings were dominated by beer drinking and pizza eating, interspersed with some running up stairs and sit-ups to look the sweaty part.”

Two evenings, you’ll note. We’re telling you, they simply cannot get enough of it…

Meanwhile, if it’s a bevvy of beauties you’d like to be looking up at you from your desktop all year, over at The Spot on Tongren Lu fifteen ravishing regulars very decently decided that the perfect way to create awareness for women’s health and feminine appreciation was by allowing us to do just that - appreciate their feminine forms - in a calendar of their own. They are raising money for China Breast Cancer Foundation.

“The fifteen selected women don’t just have pretty faces,” exlains general manager - and Miss November - Anna Comandante, “but are also fun-loving, fearless, independent, compassionate and socially active individuals.”

That said there were some nerves when it came to the shoot: “Since most of the ladies are not professional models some of them were shy and didn’t know what to do.” Says Comandante. “But overall it was exciting and hilarious, if a little tiring, and a big thanks to our photographer, Justin Ventura, for making us feel comfortable and sharing his expertise.”

So whatever it is that floats your boat, be it rugger-buggers or the the most beauteous of barflies, bring on 2010.    

To purchase the rugby calendar visit the Hairy Crabs website at www.rugbyshanghai.com or head on down to the launch held from 8pm on Dec 12 at Club D2, The Cool Docks, 505 Zhongshan Nan Lu, by Fuxing Dong Lu.

For a copy of The Spot calendar email them at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or pick one up at their premises at 311 Tongren Lu, by Beijing Lu.

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