The third edition of the Rugby Tens Championship (R10C) kicked off on Saturday (18 November) at Charles Morkel Stadium in Strand with six franchises of men, women, boys and girls, and mixed-play, a world premiere in team sports.
The six R10C franchises, Balkans Honey Badgers (Europe/Middle East), Cape Town Wild Dogs (Southern Africa), San Clemente Rhinos (North America), Serengeti Elephants (Eastern Africa), Blue Bulls x Boland Rugby (newly shared ownership) and DHL Western Province Invitational showcased professional and Academy rugby in an impressive Day 1.
Reigning Franchise Champions from 2022, the Honey Badgers, opened the tournament with their men’s team up first to take on the Serengeti Elephants. It was a physical battle with many stars from the HSBC Sevens series featuring on both sides. With the sides tied at 7-7, a lightning run from the South African, and young local player from Helderberg Rugby, Michael Visser down the wing to score a try on his home grounds swung the momentum in the Honey Badgers favour, who eventually took the game 17-14.
The Honey Badgers women’s team were back to keep their clean sheet and took the win over the South African side, Boland Rugby, with French flyer Meg Mambe leading the physical charge and scoring a hat trick. Boland responded with some seriously speedy breakaways to score two stunning tries, but they fell to the Honey Badgers who finished with a strong points difference of 50-12.
Fantastic battles ensued, including between Elephants and Wild Dogs teams. The Kenyan forces of Stellah Wafula and Grace Okulu made a huge impression for the Elephants who won 19-7.
Cape Town Wild Dogs men’s team, led by former Springboks assistant coach, Dick Muir, announced their arrival in the Mother City with an exciting try-filled victory over the Serengeti Elephants. A fabulous chip-and-chase for Jayden Bantom was the highlight with the crowd loving the action and getting right into it. The final score was 26-0.
Rhinos’ men also started with a fantastic win over Western Province. A slick short pop from Springbok Sevens star Branco du Preez to teammate Johannes Luttig was a game highlight and contributed to their momentum to take a close 22-17 win. The Rhinos women’s team also put in a well-fought win to kick the 2023 competition off and beat Boland Dames 39-0.
Saturday saw the launch of mixed-play, a world premiere in team sports where franchises battle in the same match with both genders. One gender team from each franchise takes on the first half and the other gender team from each franchise finishes the second half, sequence decided as a strategy at coin toss.
The Honey Badgers and the Western Province were part of the first game in history and it was the women’s sides who took to the field first. The first teams have the challenge of setting up the best possible platform for their counterparts to take over after half-time.
The Honey Badgers put their foot on the gas throughout with both teams taking no prisoners and racking up as many points as possible. Every point could make a difference in the fight for the Franchise Cup and their 55-5 bonus-point win will be valuable as the competition progresses.
Among the later games were wins from the Honey Badgers, Rhinos and Wild Dogs on the men’s side, leaving the Wild Dogs to finish top of the table after round 1. On the women’s side, the Wild Dogs and Rhinos finished with wins on the board while the Serengeti Elephants handed the Honey Badgers their first defeat ever at the R10C, just about holding onto a two-point lead to win 7-5.
In the academy divisions of the six franchises running concurrently with the professional senior tournament there was a lot of young talent on show. The Serengeti Elephants Boys take up the top spot of the table after round 1, with the Rhinos on top on the girls’ side. The Honey Badgers boys and the Rhinos girls were the winning teams in 2022.
Can both teams defend their title? We’ll know on Wednesday 22 November, when all teams return to Charles Morkel to continue their battle for the finals and the Rugby Tens Championship Trophy. The finals take place on Saturday 25 November – live-streamed on https://tv.rugbytens.com and https://www.therugbynetwork.com/
