Sevens
New Sevens event for George
2012-02-12 19:39
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SA Sevens captain Kyle Brown (File)
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Cape Town - The South Western Districts Rugby Union and the town of George are set to host a brand new super-rich Sevens rugby tournament.
The
Rapport newspaper reports that the competition, which will apparently be managed in a manner similar to the Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket event, is expected to be staged a week after the South African leg of the IRB World Sevens Series in Port Elizabeth.
This will be a welcome boost for the SWD Rugby Union after it lost its right to host the SA leg of the Sevens World Series.
SWD's president Hennie Baartman confirmed that the union, along with sports promoter Willem Strauss, will host the event which the South African Rugby Union (SARU) has already approved.
The event is expected to be made official on Tuesday.
Competing teams will be funded by private businessmen and organisations and will contest for a huge winning prize. The winning team could win as much as R1 million, while thousands of rands will also be dished out to lure star players.
Rapport reveals that some players could earn as much as R100 000 to play in the tournament.
At least six franchises have apparently already been bought by businessmen.