A rugby player from Malibu Village has come back from the United Kingdom the player of the tournament and her team the winners of the Rosslyn Park National Schools Sevens Tournament, the biggest of its kind in the world, with 224 teams participating in it.
TygerBurger recently reported on Tammy Booysen, an athlete who tried her hand at rugby and excelled from the word go, joined the Amazonian Barbarians Rugby Academy, which was elected to play abroad.
Playing in the tournament for the first time, being the surprise packet of the tournament was unsurprising, losing as they did only one of their nine matches. Speedster Booysen, the star of the show, scored the most points for her team, with 18 tries in 10 matches.
“My experience in the UK was amazing. There were so many new things to try in London and I enjoyed the time with my teammates and coaches. I am proud to say my team is the first-ever team from South Africa to win such a big award.
“Over these past few days I learnt so many new things from the different teams and it all added to us becoming better players. It was really a once-in-a-lifetime experience. My team and I made the most of the opportunity and played the best rugby that we could. We are very proud of what we achieved, but we are also glad that we made new friends.”
The Amazonian Barbarians were such a big hit even their opponents enjoyed their success. A commentator at the tournament, Sam Roberts, wrote the following on his Facebook page: “I spent this last week down at Howden Rosslyn Park 7s. Thousands of games, hundreds of teams, tens of thousands of players, many of whom came up short.
“Makes you think why do we play when we end up losing so often? Yes, winning is lovely. But sometimes sport is more than all that.
“Want an example? In the u-18 Girl’s Plate Final, the Amazonian Barbarians from Cape Town, South Africa triumphed. And as we presented them with the prize I was amazed to hear the biggest roar came from the group of girls they’d just beaten.
Bishop Wordsworth u-18 Girls were jumping up and down and cheering their hearts out as their South African adversaries lifted the trophy. Official proceedings dispensed with, they all immediately gathered together and had a dance to Taylor Swift. It was extraordinary, strikingly poignant and wonderful.”
