Story highlights Taufete'e took up rugby to impress his girlfriend -- now his wife

Has since won nine caps for the USA

Plays hooker for Worcester in English Premiership

(CNN) Joe Taufete'e's introduction to the game of rugby wasn't a conventional one.

It all started when, as a nervous 19-year-old, he visited his new girlfriend's family, eager to make a good first impression. But little did the Californian native know that meeting the woman of his dreams would also help him fulfil his sporting dreams.

"I was dating my girlfriend at the time," Taufete'e, who has won nine caps for the USA, told CNN. "She had invited me to come over and meet her family, and I really wanted to impress this girl.

"The first thing they started talking about was rugby and about all these kids -- saying how big they were for their age and how well they were doing.

"They were talking about these big hits they were making and I started thinking 'this is what it would take to make them notice me.'"