Brendon Jones and Chris Doherty, two senior members of the Southerners Rugby squad, recently had the privilege to join the infamous Asian Rhino's on their annual Rugby tour. This years destination was Cuba. Chris Doherty writes and provides the pics:

Here’re some pictures of our recent rugby trip to Cuba with the Rhinos– I’ve got a thousand so just included the ones of Havana which is where we spent most of the time. Most of you requested pictures to see what it was like, so here they are.

Basically, Cuba is very poor. Havana is a mix of old European 19th century architecture with a liberal dose of 50’s Soviet style concrete minimalist square buildings, plenty of statues, lots of music, cigars, rum and mojitos. Some of the old European buildings have been restored but most are crumbling down. But the old town is beautiful with cobblestone streets and high arches everywhere.

There are people everywhere - walking, waiting for transport (there is almost none), talking, smoking and lingering. Lots of lingering. There is almost no private enterprise, the State pretty much owns everything. You can’t buy a house without permission, years of waiting and reams of red tape, even cars you need permission. You are not free to get cable TV or the internet without special permission either.

So yeah, it’s poor and the people are poor but you wouldn’t always know it. There is little crime, lots of bars, and lots going on. Castro and Che’ Guevara are everywhere. There are also more tourists than I had imagined, mostly from South America.

We played one game while there, against a local team called Indios Caribe. They were fast, fit and hard, although a bit rusty skill wise. But beat us by a try or two and were good sports. Except for the guy that broke my ribs, but anyway. That’s it…enjoy the photos…

Wagga