South African Rugby Union (SARU) announced plans to open a new rugby museum, The Springbok Experience, at the V&A Waterfront later this year. The national rugby union unveiled these plans at a launch attended by 43 Springbok captains, at the V&A Waterfront last week.
The new museum which will replace SARU’s former museum in Boundary Road, Newlands, will feature a modern, interactive rugby museum, Springbok shop and ‘Springbok Trials’ rugby skills zone. Jurie Roux, CEO of SARU, said that the museum will provide a new eye-opening rugby attraction in South Africa. “People can forget their traditional ideas of what museums are like – the Springbok Experience will be completely different. It will be interactive, digital and immersive as well as displaying some incredible artefacts in telling rugby’s South African story,” said Roux.
The facility will focus on telling the story of South African from the 1860’s. According to SARU president, Oregan Haskins, the Springbok Experience will attempt to redress the imbalance of the past by telling the story of black rugby before unity in 1992 as well the traditional Springbok story. “They say that the past is a foreign country but in South Africa it is a troubled one as well. Our new rugby museum will embrace that past. We want to celebrate South African rugby in all its diverse histories as well as shine a spotlight on its troubles and turmoil and its growing pains,” Haskins said.
The event was also marked by the ceremonial capturing of handprints of 43 living national rugby unions, pre and post-unity. The moulds will later be cast into bronze and displayed at the new museum. “There is no better way to link the past with the present than take a piece of the past – in the shape of the captains’ hand prints – and place them into our present and future by capturing them for posterity and installing them as part of our Springbok Experience,” Haskins added.
The Springbok Experience will be opened on Heritage Day, 24 September 2013.
Original source: SA Tourism Update
