The South African Men’s 30 Touch Rugby team returned home this week beaming with pride after claiming silver at the 9th Fit (Federation of International Touch) Touch World Cup in Malaysia.
They competed against 117 teams from 26 countries and made it all the way to the final.
Unfortunately their arch-enemy, Australia, proved too good, beating Team Mzansi 18-4.
But head coach, Siraj Leggett from Bo-Kaap, says although they didn’t strike gold this time, his merry men are happy with their silver medals.
His 16-man team comprised of 10 Capetonians, four Gautengers and two from KwaZulu-Natal.
They competed in the Men’s 30 division, which is comprised of men aged 30 and older.
“We really enjoyed this World Cup,” says Leggett.
“It was easy to be part of the team as I know many of the players and know their strengths and weaknesses.
“The majority of the players had been at a world cup before so this just made it much more special.”
It was a tough draw and the team faced Fiji, Singapore, Japan, the USA, European champions England, France (the runners-up in the European league), and former world champions Australia in a six-day tournament.
Each game was 40 minutes long, with two halves of 20 minutes.
When the heat became a problem, the halftime intervals changed to 10 minutes.
“Our team played a great game against England and at the last minute they scored. We ended in a tie, seven each. We then went into a knockout match, like sudden death, and we scored first, winning eight to seven,” Leggett says.
Although they lost, Leggett says, they gave Australia a run for their money.
“I think my mind was made up from the start that we were going to win gold. But Australia is the best in the world. We pushed hard for this game.
“We played our first match in the tournament against them and our last.
“Before this match we were ranked 8th, now we were capped runners-up of the World Cup, winning silver,” he says proudly.
The next Touch Rugby World Cup takes place at Disney World in the USA in 2023.