Professional Rugby Remains one of South Africa’s Leading Sports and a Source of National Pride – Cape Town
WHAT IS IT?
Rugby is the second most popular sport in South Africa behind soccer with a following of more than ten million people. When I visited Cape Town in February 2025, fans wearing rugby shirts and hats were everywhere. I decided to learn more about it by attending a home match of the city’s team, the DHL Stormers. Attending this match with my Cape Town guide Kyle and his son Levi was one of the highlights of my visit to the city. It certainly helped to see players from South Africa since that country is currently ranked number one in men’s rugby by World Rugby, the sport’s governing body, just ahead of New Zealand and Ireland.
The popular 2009 movie “Invictus” starring Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon presented the dramatic story of how an integrated South African national rugby team known as the Springboks had come together after apartheid ended in 1995, to host the Rugby World Cup. By winning the event, the team helped inspire the new nation. Seeing the action and South African people from all levels of society cheering the teams left me with a new appreciation for the sport, and exemplified the universal truth that athletics can unite societies.
The match was played at The Cape Town Stadium, a world class sport facility and concert venue with a capacity for 55,000 fans that was built to host the 2010 FIFA World Cup Championship. It is conveniently located near the popular Victoria and Alfred Waterfront next to Green Point Park. On game days, the city runs free shuttle buses from the downtown and the V&A Waterfront to the stadium which resembles a traditional Zulu hat. Once you reach the stadium, people are scanned by security and moved efficiently through the gates to the stadium concourse which circles the pitch. More than 45,000 people turned out for the match between the DHL Stormers and the Vodacom Bulls of Pretoria that day.
Inside the stadium there are skyboxes around the upper deck and fan seating below on all four sides of the pitch. The stadium contains food, souvenir stands, and colorful vendors selling drinks just like American stadiums. Fans are active participants at rugby matches often waving the flag of their team or joining along with the chants of the cheerleaders.
OBSERVATIONS FROM THE RUGBY MATCH
Rugby is defined in the dictionary as a “game played by two teams using an oval ball” in which ”players try to score points by carrying a ball to their opponent’s end of the field or by kicking it over a bar fixed between two posts.” While these words make it sound a lot like American football, it is distinctive in many ways. Rugby is a complex and physically demanding test of will between rugged individuals who carefully coordinate their efforts to produce a score. While I still do not fully understand the intricacies of the rules and the different strategies employed to score, the following aspects of the match were interesting to observe:
Parameters of the Match- The match is played on a pitch that can be 94 to 100 meters long and 68 to 70 meters wide, with an end zone ranging from 6 to 20 meters. The clock runs continuously for 80 minutes divided into two 40-minute halves, except where there is an injury or an instant replay when the clock is stopped.
Condition of the Players- Rugby players come in all shapes and sizes but many forwards in the South African league are strong and solid with huge thighs and enough upper body strength to push and pull in a pile. The wingers have surprising bursts of speed for short distances and the ability to change direction quickly. Given the lack of protection, there were few injuries, and no dramatized infractions like in some soccer matches.
Scoring a Try- After the attacking team succeeds in moving the ball down the pitch towards the end zone by passing or handing it backwards among their players, it can score a “try” of five points by placing the ball on the ground in the end zone while still controlling it. Sometimes a player breaks away and runs upright into the end zone to do this, but often there is a fierce wrestling match among several players right around the goal line instead.
Conversion Kicks Going Awry- After there is a try, the attacking team that scored can get two additional points by kicking the ball over the goalposts from a location on the pitch parallel to where the try was scored. For this reason, the attacking team will attempt to score in the middle of the field rather than towards the sideline. During the match between the DHL Stormers and the Vodacom Bulls, there were five missed conversion kicks by the two teams. One two-point miss by the Stormers occurred right at the end of the game and so they lost 34 to 33. I do not know if it was the unusual oval shape of the ball or the wind that affected so many kicks, but the kicking was unimpressive by NFL standards.
Figuring out Major Infringements- When players are fighting in a pile to control the ball or to continue an attack by passing it backwards, it is difficult to tell what infraction created a penalty since the referee’s rulings are not announced in the stadium. This can be important because if the defending team commits a “major infringement” then the attacking team may receive a penalty kick for three points from the location of the infraction.
I am glad that I was able to experience a professional rugby match that included world class players and local favorites. While I have a lot to learn about the sport, this was an excellent introduction.
INTERESTING FACTS
Rugby has been played in the United States since the late 1800s and has become one of the fastest growing sports in the nation during the 21st century. There are over nine hundred male and female college teams in the United States, Major League Rugby has professional teams in twelve cities here, and rugby is now an Olympic sport. While the Men’s 7s and Women’s 7s teams of the United States are highly ranked in world competition, the Men’s 15s are currently ranked number 15 in the world and the Women’s 15s are ranked number 9. With the Men’s Rugby World Cup coming to the United States in 2031 (likely with Pittsburgh as the host city) and the Women’s Rigby World Cup scheduled to take place here in 2033, the sport should continue to grow in North America.