Learners from 10 schools - aged 7 and 8 - from Saulsville, Mamelodi, Soshanguve and Silverton attended the GIR Festival at Loftus Versfeld, where they played mixed team TAG Rugby.

The Springboks were wrapping up training their training session and the kids really enjoyed seeing their heroes in action. What's more, it was Makazole Mapimpi's birthday and children sang "Happy Birthday" to the Bok speedster.

Get into Rugby is SA Rugby’s grassroots development programme and it's also part of World Rugby's strategy to grow the game globally. The aim is to encourage players of all ages to "Try, Play and Stay" in rugby while promoting the values of the game and also addressing the social and emotional welfare of the children.

The key priorities for the programme are:
1.       Access for all children.
2.       World Rugby values turned into virtues through storytelling. Five original stories with African wild animals as the main characters help to convey the values respect, integrity, discipline, solidarity and passion.
3.       Healthy eating: a nutritious meal for the hungry and malnourished and a lesson in healthy eating habits for all.
4.       Love to play vs. play to win: All children are encouraged to enjoy the game, rather than a select few learning to vanquish their opponents at all cost.

The programme was started in South Africa with a pilot programme in the Cape Winelands in 2013 with 1,100 participants – growing to a total of 264,000 participants countrywide in 2023.