South African Rugby League

Date: 23/5/13

Maxxium Sport and South African Rugby League is proud to announce that the New South Wales Country League will tour South Africa in October 2013. The New South Wales Team will land on the 9th of October, and while staying in South Africa will play against the SARL Rhino’s as well as a Combined Clubs Side.

The main match will form part of a showcase day where the SARL Students will face an invitational side, the Senior team (Rhino’s) face New South Wales and in a new development, the SARL Masters will play against an Invitational Sables Side. The Sables is an initiative from SARL to promote the game to ex-players and the multitude of international players who never got the chance to play against South Africa in the eighties and nineties because the sport was banned in South Africa due to political reasons and this ban was only lifted after 1994’s historic democratic elections. The Sables will be an international side made up of players from mostly Australia, England and Scotland with some players from the Pacific Islands also in contention.

While in South Africa, the New South Wales Team will be travelling to schools to promote the game and to instill the values of league to the youth. This will be done in conjunction with the Gauteng Sports Council as part of a joint initiative to promote the sport to all persons.

Kobus Botha, President of SARL, was very excited about the tour, saying: “Rugby league went through a transformation in the past few years, and tours such as this shows the world, and the rest of South Africa, what we are capable of. Already the students are participating in the 2013 Rugby League World Cup, and South Africa is in the running for the rights to host the 2017 Rugby League World Cup, all significant milestones in the sport. Tours from New South Wales, the British and Irish Lions and several other countries are being planned for the next 18 months, and this will bring significant growth to the sport.”

Terry Quinn, Chief Executive Officer of the Country Rugby League of NSW today said “we are looking forward to bringing the best of the Country NSW to South Africa to showcase Rugby League. All players eligible are very excited about the ground breaking concept and can only see the benefits it will bring to the growth of Rugby League in South Africa.”

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