THE cream of the world’s under-20 players will be in action in Cape Town following the announcement by the International Rugby Board (IRB) that South Africa will host the IRB Junior World Rugby Championship in 2012.
Over 300 players from around the world will be in the 12 international teams that will compete in the three-week event – which has been designed to help up-and-coming stars make the transition – from their age-group ranks – to senior rugby.Speaking at a media conference in Cape Town, IRB tournament manager Philippe Bourdarias said South Africa’s bid was ‘far superior’ and the world-controlling body had great faith in the country’s hosting capability. He said the under-20 tournament was just one tier below the Rugby World Cup in terms of importance in international rugby.’I have just completed a tour of the tournament facilities in the Western Cape and it’s absolutely first class,’ said Bourdarias.’Rugby has a great history in the Western Province and the IRB will use this opportunity to leave a legacy behind, in much the same way we did in Argentina last year at the 2010 event.’Stellenbosch University and the University of the Western Cape will be the tournament venues where the participating teams will be in action.Several schools and clubs fields, including the famous City Park and Green Point Track venues ,will be used for training.Mark Alexander, the deputy president of the South African Rugby Union, said in the wake of the 2010 Fifa World Cup, the country’s standing as a host for international events had been enhanced considerably.’We (South Africa) have just done ourselves tremendously proud by staging a very successful 2010 World Cup,’ said Alexander.’The IRB knows we are good hosts because we’ve hosted world tournaments before and they were successfully staged.’We will do the country and the game proud again.’ – thenewage.co.za
