Hawks emerged victors at the Passmore Oval where they won 20-18. One of the best players in the game for Hawks was SamiPaulsson, a Swede.
It was his fourth game so far in the top grade. However, he had played a season at Stewart’s Melville Rugby Club in the Scottish second division in Edinburgh before arriving in Newcastle.
Back in New Zealand, he also spent two years in the Bay of Plenty which saw him being called up to the region’s under-20 development.
Paulsson also continues his rugby schooling with the hope that it would one day lead to a professional contract for him.
“That’s the boyhood dream,” Paulsson said. “I have come here to challenge myself and develop my game.”
Paulsson also talked about the questions he receives from people and the kind of look they give him when he replies with an answer.
“Everywhere I go, people ask where I am from,” he said. “My accent is not that strong. Some people find it a bit a weird when I say Sweden.”
Back in his hometown of Norrkoping, Paulsson began playing rugby as a schoolboy. Norrkoping is a town with a population of slightly above 110,000 and is situated two hours away to the south of Stockholm.
He also talked about how he joined his rugby playing dad at a young age and how much he enjoyed the contact.
He also admitted to playing ice hockey at a time but switching his focus to rugby once he started playing.
So far,Paulsson has had about 2o caps for Sweden, with the last of it coming in September in the game against Germany.
He and his wife Emma, has been in Newcastle for just six weeks but are already eager to make it home.
