March 1, 2012: Touch rugby is an amazing sport that can be played by just about anyone. It is played at almost every school and even has a schools’ league running. It can be played anywhere where there is open ground, and on the beach. It is a sport of skill, quick reflexes and good hand-eye co-ordination. In some countries, touch is played in schools before contact rugby is allowed to be played, as it develops handling and footwork and general basics, before contact is then taught.
The KZN touch rugby team is soon heading to the Inter Provincial Championships in Johannesburg, from March 24-26. A Men’s side and a Ladies side, consisting of 16 men, and 14 ladies, with three coaches, will attend the Championships.
Currently, there are five men in the side who represented South Africa in the World Cup last year in all age groups (Garth Roux – SA Men’s open, Jason Barber – Mixed Open, Mark Dand – SA Men’s over 30s, Grant Medcalf – Men’s Over 35s, Marty Griffiths – SA Open mixed Coach).
A lot of hype
In the Ladies side, there are four players who represented South Africa at the World Cup (Caryn McAlery, Sam Wilson, Jenna Nortier and Claire Weston – All SA Ladies Open). The KZN Men’s team is coached by Linton Geach, who was the SA Open Ladies coach at the 2011 World Cup. There is clearly a lot of hype around these two teams and KZN touch rugby is expecting big things at the upcoming championships.
Although growing in popularity, touch rugby is not recognised by the South African Rugby Union and therefore does not receive any funding from the union. As a result, everything is paid for by the players. Tours such as this are 100% paid for by the players, testament to the commitment and motivation of the players.
KZN has also decided to bring out World Cup Mixed winning Australian coach, Bernie Morrison to assist the team. Fundraising efforts helped to cover the cost of his trip to South Africa. Morrison will arrive in Durban on March 9 and will travel up to Johannesburg with the team, leaving for Australia after the tournament. As it stands, each player is paying roughly R 5 000 each to travel to and play in the championships, and that excludes the money raised to bring Morrison to South Africa.
KZN Touch rugby has one sponsor at this stage, The Robert Group, and is trying to get more sponsors interested.
KZN Touch rugby has a league running on the Moses Mabhida outer fields every Wednesday night. The League is split into four categories: 1. Men’s Premier, 2. Men’s First Division, 3. Men’s second Division and 4. Mixed Division. With around 32 registered teams for this season are about 10 players per team, there are 320 players each night.
The Robert Group insurance brokers are located in Umhlanga Ridge and Ballito and have more than 30 years’ experience in the insurance and investment business. They have a long history of support with touch rugby in KZN and also have a company team in the premier division.
Contact info: If you’d like to get involved or assist the KZN team with the costs of the upcoming tour, contact Dean Wicks at dkwicks05@yahoo.com; 083 787 4460