Cape Town beat Lausanne 5-0 in the final match of the seventh Saint Devote Rugby Tournament Saturday afternoon and event organised by the Monegasque Rugby Federation in collaboration with the Princess Charlene of Monaco Foundation at the Louis II Stadium.
The twelve boys making up the winning team are visiting Monaco as part of the “South Africa-Monaco Rugby Exchange”, one of the Princess Charlene of Monaco Foundation’s flagship projects in its Sport & Education programme.
These underprivileged children from South Africa have been invited to the Principality from March 14 to 20, thanks to a partnership with the South African Rugby Legends Association (SARLA). In turn, a Monegasque team will travel to Durban in South Africa in July 2017.
Alongside the rugby tournament, the young athletes from South Africa and children from the Principality participate in school and leisure activities providing mutual enrichment through their cultural differences. The practiced with the Toulon rugby team earlier in the week, which was a real thrill for the boys and Friday morning they learned life saving techniques and about water safety from Princess Charlene directly.
The purpose of the Ste Devote tournament is to highlight the values of rugby, dear to the Princess Charlene of Monaco Foundation, beyond its physical aspects. These meetings illustrate team spirit and the notions of generosity, sharing, solidarity, respect and fair play which help children accept themselves as they are in order to better integrate into society.
The U12-category Tournament brought together the following countries and teams: France (Lucciana, Toulon and Aix en Provence), Greece (Athens), Italy (Imperia and Recco), Monaco, Morocco (Safi), Russia (Kaliningrad), South Africa (Cape Town), Spain (Barcelona), Switzerland (Lausanne and Geneva), Tunisia (Jemmel) and United Arab Emirates (Abu Dhabi).
The “Saint Devote Challenge” – named after the Patron Saint of the Principality and Corsica – was played by Lucciana and Monaco. Youngsters of a very early age will not be left out. “Tots Rugby”, an introduction to rugby, will be available for children aged 3 to 5.
Educational workshops and specially designed courses were available for children and young people from Educational Medical Institutes, for an entertaining introduction to rugby. These children were supervised by the U15 and U16 (Monegasque Rugby Federation members under age 16), wishing to share their passion for rugby and the ideals it conveys.
Article update Saturday March 18, 2017.
