Cape Town - It’s hardly breaking news that the 2015 Rugby World Cup has kicked off.
If you've managed to put the Springboks' loss to Japan behind you, you might want to head for the Springbok Experience Rugby Museum at the V&A Waterfront.
This is a good place to include for a full friends and/or family day out.
The museum is truly world class and, whether you’re a fan or not, it’s an interactive, educational, moving, and fun way to spend a couple of hours.
The entrance simulates a tunnel leading on to a rugby field so you’re immediately thrust into the spirit of the game.
On the ground floor there are all sorts of energetic activities, although the suggestion is that you begin the tour upstairs. You should allow a minimum of an hour for your visit, preferably about two or more.
Lining the walls of the stairwell are dozens of fabulous block-mounted action photographs and quotes about rugby.
Upon entering the museum you will encounter more than 60 audiovisual displays, as well as memorabilia in glass cases – including the actual Currie Cup among many other valuable treasures – which depict the history of rugby in South Africa and that of the Springboks.
Other teams and rugby unions are represented as well.
Along the way there are touchscreens for an even more enriching experience.
If you know little or nothing about the game, its rules, and its players there is a very useful interactive display towards the end which describes each man on the field and what he does, with useful videos and stats.
I was interested to note how the average height and weight of players have increased over the past 100 years.
Before you head back downstairs to test your kicking, passing, fitness and reaction skills in the Springbok Trials games zone, and maybe visit the shop to buy souvenirs, there is a small theatre which screens an eight-minute film called Match Day in SA, which is a highly professional production across three screens.
It captures all the magic of the game, and I am not ashamed to say it made even me a little emotional.
The Springbok Experience Rugby Museum will be two years old on Thursday, Heritage Day, and the celebrations will include the unveiling of an exhibition of the handprints of Springbok captains, which you will see outside the entrance.
The museum is in Portswood Road, V&A Waterfront (over the pedestrian crossing by Mitchell’s Scottish Ale House and through the parking garage stairwell).
It’s open daily from 10am till 6pm, except Christmas Day.
* Tickets are R65 for adults (including a free beer at Quay Four), R40 for pupils and pensioners. Call 021 418 4741.
For more information see www.sarugby.co.za, e-mail [email protected], or www.rugbyworldcup.com.
There’s no shortage of fun places to watch the games
There are many ways to watch the Rugby World Cup, whether it’s in the comfort of your home, at a sports bar, a five-star hotel, or accompanied by live entertainment to up the excitement levels.
The V&A Waterfront has established Absa Boktown at the amphitheatre to give fans and Springbok supporters a thrilling experience with live entertainment, and refreshments and merchandise on sale.
Boktown runs until October 31. Entrance is free but numbers are limited to 500.
All the matches will be shown on the new screen, and those involving the Springboks, the quarters, semis and the final – as well as the England vs Wales and England vs Australia clashes – will be supported by free live entertainment.
Beer, soft drinks, nuts and biltong will be available and the fast food court is right there, too.
Prizes and promotional giveaways will add to the fun.
If you can’t get into Boktown, Mitchell’s Brewery and Ferryman’s are close by, as is Quay Four. For more information see www.waterfront.co.za and click on the events calendar.
* Peddlars & Co in Constantia is turning itself into rugby central, with all four venues offering food and drink specials and packages.
Volare Ristorante will have one of the biggest projector sports screens in Cape Town, and is offering Italian dishes, wines and beers.
Graciales next door will have tapas dishes for sharing, handcrafted cocktails and craft beers.
The Oak Terrace will be serving its famous burgers and chips with great drinks specials and the Local Bar has a special on 400g or 1kg rib portions with draught beers, which would make Homer Simpson drool.
There is plenty of seating inside and out, and a total of six big screens in smoking and non-smoking sections. Call 021 794 7747 for more information.
* There are bars and pubs where rugby and beer go hand in hand – like Perseverance Tavern in Buitenkant Street, Forries in Newlands, and the Fireman’s Arms in the city centre.
Not for nothing are these three of the oldest pubs in Cape Town. I recommend any and all of them for an afternoon or evening of rugby and appropriate festivities.
* Other good places include Rafiki’s (021 426 4731) in Kloof Nek Road where they’ll be handing out free shooters every time the Boks score a try, or Toad In The Village (Noordhoek, 021 789 2973) which is owned by former Springbok Bob Skinstad. Maybe some of that green and gold magic will rub off just by proximity. It’s a cool spot, with five screens and an outside garden as well as the village’s central green lawns so you can take the kids.
* In the CBD you can try The Village Idiot (021 418 1548), which has a number of televisions.
Already madly popular and crowded, it’s likely to be even more so. Food, based on South African braai culture, is good and reasonably priced, and last I heard they were doing braais on the big wraparound balcony.
* Last but not least – because I’d put money on every single place in the country that has a TV screen large or small showing the games – you can get your class on at the Rugby Bar at the five-star African Pride Crystal Towers Hotel & Spa in Century City (021 525 3888).
You’ll have to reach a little deeper in your pockets for a mini burger platter and two beers for R150 while watching the rugger on a drop-down screen. I don’t know, somehow cocktails and rugby just aren’t quite right, but to each his (or her) own.
Who am I to judge? I’m not even a fan. But if I were, it would be with a beer in my hand.
In a bottle.
Bianca Coleman, Weekend Argus