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Patrick Blennerhassett

For these lovebirds, rugby is the common element, but there’s much more to the sporting duos than meets the eye.
Christy and Stuart Gunn met in 2006 in Hong Kong. At that time, Stuart, who is from England, was on a 10-month student exchange working for the Hong Kong Rugby Union. It was here he spotted Christy, during trials for the national team.
“He was a selector,” said Christy, then known as Christy Cheng Ka-chi.
“Well,” Stuart said, “I was there to observe, and you could say I ‘selected’ her.”
Stuart, 32, said the two did not talk the first night they met, but they bumped into each other a few weeks later at Hong Kong Football Club in Happy Valley.


It was here they quickly figured out they enjoyed each other’s company, but they had to endure a year of long distance dating as Stuart went back to England to finish his studies.
Stuart, who works as a community inclusive participation manager for the HKRU and plays recreationally for Hong Kong Scottish, said Christy, 33, was a big reason he decided to come back.
Christy, who plays professionally for the women’s sevens national team, said this definitely felt special for her.
“When he made the decision to come back after he finished university, I realised it was a massive move for him. And I would love to think I was one of the factors that he came back, and if he made such a decision, partly because of me, I should commit to it.”
They were married in 2017, a week after the Hong Kong Sevens, in Phuket, Thailand, and Christy said they definitely balance each other out. She said Stuart is very relaxed while she is much more intense.
“He reminds me I don’t have to get grumpy about small things in our life. And it’s not worth it to get angry with each other or have a bad day because of the little things.”
Four Hong Kong restaurants your Valentine's Day date might not have tried yet

However, she draws the line when it comes to household chores.
“I do most of the cooking and washing, because I like to do things my way. If I tell him to do it, and he doesn’t do it the way I like it, I will do it again my way, so there’s no point.”
Stuart said he has been relegated to one, albeit important job, when it comes to domestic tasks.
“I take the garbage out, every day.”
For Wesley and Samantha Feausi, love struck 17 years ago in their native New Zealand. Wesley, 38, admits he is a bit reserved, and used a conduit to ask out Samantha, 36, while the two were both playing rugby at the University of Waikato.
“It was his little sister actually,” said Samantha, who works as the head of women’s rugby development for the HKRU.
“He did not have the courage to ask me to the movies, so he asked his little sister, who was six, if she wanted to go to the movies. And I asked his little sister who he was with, and she said, ‘My brother’ and then pointed at him.”
The two tied the knot in 2011, and have since lived together in New Zealand, England and have now been in Hong Kong for a decade.
It takes two: Valentine’s Day ideas to suit every lover

Five Valentine’s Day dates with a difference: from gin love potions to cooking up some chocolate heaven
Wesley, who works as the national development coach for the junior boys with the HKRU, said they rarely fight and also have a rule they do not talk rugby work at home.
The couple also welcomed their first child, a son named Isaiah, who is now one and a half years old. Samantha said he’s already growing up in a sporting household.
“His first word was ball, so he’s pretty much ingrained with rugby already.”
However, they did have to reach a stalemate on what colour jersey Isaiah will don.
While Wesley is a coach for Hong Kong Football Club, Samantha plays for Societe Generale Valley and said they had a serious discussion about their child’s athletic future already.
“We’ve decided he will play for the USRC Tigers,” Samantha said, “a bit of neutral ground I’d say.”


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Love in the rucks: two couples talk romance, and falling for rugby, on Valentine’s Day

Rugby couples Stuart and Christy Gunn, and Samantha and Wesley Feausi, have a love for rugby, and each other. Photo: Nora Tam

Christy Cheng Ka Chi steamrolls the Guam defence.

Rugby couples (front L-R) Stuart Gunn of Hong Kong Rugby Union and Christy Cheng Ka-chi of Hong Kong Women’s Rugby, married in 2017; and (back L-R) rugby players Samantha Feausi and Wesley Feausi, married in 2011, pose for pictures in front of Hong Kong Stadium ahead of Valentine's Day. 13FEB19 SCMP / Nora Tam

Sport

Rugby


Sweetheart couples, and rugby lovers, share their stories and the secret to success when it comes to relationships
While rugby brought them together, they say compromise and communication has kept them together



Valentine's Day

Love in the rucks: two couples talk romance, and falling for rugby, on Valentine’s Day

Sweetheart couples, and rugby lovers, share their stories and the secret to success when it comes to relationships While rugby brought them together, they say compromise and communication has kept them together

Sweetheart couples, and rugby lovers, share their stories and the secret to success when it comes to relationships

While rugby brought them together, they say compromise and communication has kept them together