Following his rugby dreams is taking New Yorker Alex Drury around the world with Nelson his latest stop.
And it was hard to miss the powerful and pacey 17-year-old winger on the field, with his ginger hair and pink and purple footy boots, as he scored two terrific solo tries for Nelson College against defending Miles Toyota Premiership champions Christchurch Boys’ High School last Saturday.
“I love American Football but I feel a connection to rugby. I want to keep travelling and play to the highest level,” says Alex after shining in NC’s nationally-televised match on Saturday.
Alex was already well-travelled before coming to the Global Youth Sevens tournament in Auckland last December with the USA team where he met NC coach Greg Foe.
“I heard about the Nelson College rugby scholarship opportunites and that other Americans had come here before. So I applied and was accepted. I arrived here four months ago with no expectations not expecting any handouts. I just wanted to grow my game and meet people. It is a big learning curve,” declares the Year 13 student.
Sevens has already taken him to Ireland, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands and Dubai.
He hails from Poughkeepsie, two hours from New York City but, by virtue of his British father, “grew up” in Surrey in the south of England.
Once back in the US he mixed American Football, where he was a running back or safety, with sevens.
“There is still a bit of a stigma around rugby in the states but it is a lot better than people think. I would love to go to play in a Rugby World Cup or Olympic Sevens.”
As for those two tries, in the space of three minutes to spark a second half comeback on Saturday, Alex showed pace for the first and power too for second as ran over the CBHS fullback and then shrugged off another defender.
His American high school weightlifting background has clearly given him real upper body strength.
“You have just got to wait on the wing for those opportunities. It was a real team effort.”
Unfortunately his team then fell off the pace as CBHS cleared away to win 55-24.
“That’s the beauty of the ups and downs. I think we showed a lot of grit to come back. It is a young and it is just a matter of tapping into that potential,” maintains Alex who’s also keen to have a crack at rugby league.
He is one of three Americans on rugby scholarships at Nelson this year with Hawaiian halfback Kolomona Kahanu, who was elevated to start on Saturday, and 2nd XV player Bennett Glock who is from New Jersey.
