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Christ Tshiunza admits he is \u201cliving a dream\u201d as he prepares to make his Rugby World Cup debut for Wales.<\/p>\n
Tshiunza\u2019s journey has taken him from his birthplace \u2013 Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of the Congo \u2013 to Exeter Chiefs, via Whitchurch High School in Cardiff after he and his family left a country rife with civil war 13 years ago.<\/p>\n
To have now arrived at a World Cup just eight months after his 21st birthday underlines a searing rate of progress on the rugby pitch.<\/p>\n
Tshiunza will make his first appearance in the tournament against Portugal on Saturday, when he will be partnered in the second-row by his Exeter colleague Dafydd Jenkins.<\/p>\n
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\u201cIt is very surreal, considering in 2010 I didn\u2019t even know what rugby was,\u201d Tshiunza said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was with Mason (Wales centre Mason Grady) four years ago, we were going to a Wales Under-18s tournament in South Africa and we were just saying it would be class to be at the next World Cup, and now we are here.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel like I am living a dream at the moment, so after all of this we will look back and think \u2018wow, that was really good\u2019. I am just happy to be here and I am trying to enjoy every moment so far.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe (Jenkins and Tshiunza) are room-mates as well, and sometimes we just like lay in bed and look over at each other and say \u2018what are we doing here, to be 20 years old, what have we done to deserve this?\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is still very surreal at the moment, but after this tournament we will look back and be glad we did it together.<\/p>\n
\u201cA year ago if we said we are definitely going to come to the World Cup, no-one would have believed us.<\/p>\n
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\u201cWe are all really grateful for the opportunity we have been given. It is an opportunity to play on the biggest rugby stage, we have all got to take this opportunity with both hands.\u201d<\/p>\n
While at school in Cardiff \u2013 fellow Whitchurch past pupils included Gareth Bale, Sam Warburton and Geraint Thomas \u2013 6ft 6in Tshiunza excelled at other sports, including high jump.<\/p>\n
And school memories, the people who taught him and guided him, in addition to his family and friends, will be recounted when he sings the Welsh national anthem on Saturday at Stade de Nice.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt the time when you are younger you don\u2019t realise how little things like that shape you as a player later on,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
\u201cStuff like high jumps, I didn\u2019t know that was going to help me with my lineout because I wasn\u2019t playing rugby properly at the time.<\/p>\n
I started playing rugby a bit later on, in school, and if it wasn\u2019t for the people I met in school I probably wouldn\u2019t be here now<\/p>\n
\u201cThroughout the years you look back and all the explosive lineout stuff maybe comes from the little stuff I did when I was younger.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is what I say to boys my age that haven\u2019t really kicked on that everything they are doing now, and everything they did a few years ago is going to help them down the line. They just don\u2019t know it yet.<\/p>\n
\u201cI started playing rugby a bit later on, in school, and if it wasn\u2019t for the people I met in school I probably wouldn\u2019t be here now.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I sing the anthem I will think about the people who helped me along the way, my school friends I started playing with, my school coach Steve Williams, he took me under his wing.<\/p>\n
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\u201cMy family that come to the current games now, they haven\u2019t got a clue, they are like \u2018where\u2019s Christ, where\u2019s Christ? Oh, good job, you did something well today\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey don\u2019t know the rules, but I am glad they can come and support.\u201d<\/p>\n