High-end action big attraction in Alice
THOUSANDS of people will be pouring in and out of Alice over the weekend as the 20th Score Red Lion Easter Rugby Tournament lights up the Easter weekend.
Teams and spectators alike will all be in attendance as the massive festival of rugby takes place from today until Monday.
“Over the weekend you can expect an influx of over 20 000 people in and out of the Alice town which will be great for the Municipality,” said tournament director, Elliot Fana.
“We expect top-flight club rugby at our disposal.”
In total 36 teams will be in action, 28 in the main men's division, four in the women's section and two junior teams in the U16 division and another two in the U13 section, with close to 800 players expected overall.
With only 14 of the 36 teams local, it will give the local sides great exposure to the standards of rugby from around the country with the other 22 teams coming in from different provinces.
“This is an annual event that happens between Cape Town and Eastern Cape, the tournament originated in Cape Town and it changes on a yearly basis, one year in Cape Town and the next year in the Eastern Cape,” explained Fana.
“It has been happening for a while since the 75th anniversary of Busy Bee rugby club in 1998 and from that time it just went from strength to strength.
“It serves as a feeder to rural institutions such as the University of Fort Hare for big tournaments such as the Varsity Shield as unions do not have development structures any more.”
With Alice club Red Lion being the tournament hosts this year they will be eager to impress and put in a good showing in front of their home fans and hopefully challenge for the title.
With stiff competition from all over expected it will not be an easy challenge and they will need to be at the top of their game throughout.
“Teams to look out for this year are Busy Bee, the defending champions and Red Lion Rugby Club which are the hosts,” claimed Fana.
“For the hosts it is simple as they have the backing of the crowd and that can prompt their performances, but Busy Bees would like to go all out to defend the cup.”
The women's division is also expected to throw up some really exciting action and this section will be watched with keen interest by spectators.
“The ladies section really helps to spread the gospel, girls like Sindi Booi played in this tournament and later played for South Africa, so we expect to see some very exciting women's talent over the weekend,” said Fana.
In all an enjoyable weekend of Easter Rugby action is expected and fans should be in for a treat of exciting rugby entertainment.
“I think it is a good initiative to create a good festive atmosphere for our Raymond Mhlaba Local Municipality,” said Fana.
“Most important is that it is a rural sport development product aimed at improving and nurturing talent from these previously disadvantaged areas like a small town of Alice.”
The action gets under way at the Nqgele Location Sports Fields today, which will be the main ground for the event, with the opening match between Red Lion and Flying Eagles kicking off at 2pm.
Other matches during the tournament will be held at Fort Hare as well, before Monday's final day sees all the action back at the main ground, with semifinals for the men's division, the women’s final and the third and fourth playoff in the men’s section all on show in the morning. The men’s division final starting 12.20pm will close out the tournament.