For the third time the annual Rugby Festival was held in the early February in the Cape Town Hamilton Rugby Club, the oldest rugby club in South Africa. The position of the club facilities is unique, just behind the World Cup stadium, with great views to Signal Hill and Table Mountain.
The number of participating teams that year was 48, divided into:
- Open Premier: 16 more or less professional teams
- Open Beer: 16 teams who see rugby as a nice leisure activity
- Veterans and Legends: 8 teams for the older term from 35 years
- Eight teams of police, army or other institutions
Instead of the usual 15 players were the teams with only 10 participants, which allowed a very dynamic game. The heavyweights of the respective teams have a grounding here – so the official rule. You can find a lot of nice people to bring the rules closer to an inexperienced German. And the more you can understand, the more understandable it is that the South Africans love this sport and that they are gentle smile of our football.
For the most foreign viewers is the sporting aspect of the event not primarily. The atmosphere during the rugby game, mixed with the typical South African Way of Life is so interesting. You meet up with friends to watch a game or two and then you are going in the lounge area to enjoy the sun and after that in the area in which many local specialties are sold. Later you can have your drinks in the party tent. Then it starts from the beginning until the games are finished for the day and then you can follow in the beer tent to the sounds of various live bands.
The organization of this festival was perfect, there were also mobile ATMs. And best of all: Next year in February the Rugby Festival will start again! Sponsor of this event (CapeTownTens) is “Castle”, one of the great local breweries.
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