|PIC1|A rugby-mad vicar, who serves as chaplain to the famous Welsh regional Scarlets team, will be missing the Six Nations tournament this year to work in India.

The Rev Eldon Phillips, 58, is putting aside his passion for the game to take up a five-week placement ministering to sick and dying people in hospitals in India. It will link up with his other role, as a chaplain at Singleton Hospital, Swansea, a job he has held for the past four years.

Missing the Six Nations will be a bit of wrench, he admits, but the trip to India, organised by the Christian charity USPG, was too important an opportunity for him to miss.

“It will be quite a challenging job as I will be working in a very different environment and with people suffering from cancer and leprosy. But I’m looking forward to learning more about healthcare in India and working alongside chaplains of other faiths and I’m sure it will be the experience of a lifetime.

“I fly back to Wales at the beginning of March, by which time Wales will have tied up the Six Nations. But they’ll be in my thoughts and I’ll be saying some short prayers for Warren Gatland’s team while I’m in India, of course. And I’m only missing one Scarlets’ match at Parc Y Scarlets!“

Eldon will spend half of the placement in the town of Tirunelveli, close to the southern tip of India and half in Vellore, at a large teaching hospital with a Christian foundation which specialises in oncology and leprosy. He has a great interest in Eastern religions and hopes to visit places of worship and local schools. As a keen train-spotter, he is also looking forward to the overnight train journey from Tirunelveli to Chennai.

During his trip, which starts on February 6, Eldon is hoping to keep a recorded diary of his experiences to keep in touch with friends, parishioners and fellow rugby supporters at home.