At 81-years of age, Dunsborough's David Bell might just be Australia's oldest touch rugby player and he cannot wait to show off his skills at the upcoming masters event in Busselton this month.
The Busselton Dunsborough Dungbeetles Rugby Union Club will host a tournament from Saturday, March 30 to Sunday, March 31 at Barnard Park with golden oldies touch rugby teams from Perth.
Each club that competes will likely bring around 20 to 30 people to the region, and will play up to five games of touch rugby throughout the weekend.
The minimum age for a masters player is 35 years and no player can run more than 25 metres with a ball in hand.
Mr Bell said the last time he met up with the masters players he did not recognise anyone because they were all so young.
"I have to run a bit to keep up with the younger players, I run on the beach and I swim, I catch a few waves and body surf," he said.
"I love to run on the beach so I am moderately fit and I understand what all the players are doing because I have played rugby for so long."
Mr Bell will be cheering on the two rugby clubs he belongs to including Cottosloe and Busselton Dunsborough.
"I am just a rugby player - a person who loves rugby - and I have loved it for about 75 years, it has been a very big part of my life," he said.
Now a life member of the Cottosloe club, Mr Bell joined the team back in 1962 when he first arrived in Australia after living in the UK and South Africa.
He was also one of the first members of the Busselton Dunsborough Rugby Union Club joining the team about five months after it started.
"I saw three guys standing on the Dunsborough Playing Fields, I noticed they were not kicking the ball they were passing it, so I tore in and asked, 'are you blokes playing rugby?'
"They said, 'yes we are just about to play a game of touch.'
"I asked if I could play, I was aged 60 at the time, it was about 20 years ago.
"The club had just started, they looked at me and said, 'aren't you a bit old for this?'
"They now call me the elder of the club, how lucky am I to be part of this organisation."
Mr Bell said two weeks after he joined the club they asked him to be the president because the members thought he would be the only club member with a tie.
Mr Bell first started playing the sport as a child in South Africa and was taught by a woman during the war because there were no men around.
He played in the 1991 World Masters Golden Oldies Tournament with his Cottosloe team.