Supporters of the victorious Welsh rugby team that beat the Springboks in the second Test on Sunday are in Kimberley a two-day stopover as guests of Universals rugby club. Here the visiting crew socialise with the host club members at the AR Abass Stadium. Picture: Soraya Crowie
Saturday’s rugby international match featuring the Springboks and Wales in the second Test at Bloemfontein’s Toyota stadium had an echo in Kimberley on Sunday when Universals RFC hosted some of the Welsh team supporters in a post-match shindig at the AR Abass Stadium.
Universals players and supporters had converged at the stadium just after 10am on Sunday morning in eager anticipation of the arrival of the Welsh supporters who eventually made their appearance at around 2pm.
While waiting for the Welsh supporters the crowd was entertained with a friendly game between the hosts Universals and Black Warriors RFC who might be considered an offshoot of Universals.
Universals chairperson Romeo Syfers said that the visit is long overdue.
“The visit came quite a long way since the (earlier) British Irish Lions but due to Covid they could not come. Now with the incoming tour of Wales they (the supporters) were asking whether Universals was still willing to host them.
“So we offered and said they can come and stay in Kimberley for two days.”
Syfers said that Unies would show their visitors the sights around the city. “We will host them and show them around, We’ll show them the Big Hole and (they can) meet some of our players and management.
“We are also going to show them Galeshewe and so on. They’ve been to Soweto already and were surprised by what's going on there,” he added.
“We will also talk about Universals rugby club and what it has gone through. It being a 136-year-old club in South Africa and not being recognised and so forth.”
Syfers explained that he had befriended the Welsh supporters while he was still an active rugby player in Paarl, Western Cape in 2004/5.
During that period Syfers had played overseas in Scotland and after that short stint he came over to stay in Kimberley and invited his overseas rugby contacts to visit.