Venue to become the official home of the Rugby Tens in South Africa and an international sports development hub.

The Rugby Village in Gordon’s Bay, Cape Town the future home of the Rugby Tens (R10) in South Africa welcomed its first training sessions to its brand new fields last week. The R10 High-Performance Players, joined by Gordon’s Bay Young Bafana Soccer Academy took to the field for the very first training session at the Rugby Village, scheduled to officially open in 2026!

The Rugby Village will provide world-class facilities to the Rugby Tens programs and partners in elite training, competitions, grassroots development, community engagement, education and career pathways. In addition there will be opportunities for the broader rugby community and soccer groups to be part of the Rugby Village.

“This week marked a huge milestone for our vision to build a Rugby Village dedicated to athletes’ pathways, from sport to career development,” says Andreea Trufasu, CEO of R10, and co-owner of The Rugby Village. “Five years after we purchased the land, challenged by Covid period and lots of ground works, we opened, in my view, one of the most beautiful rugby fields in the world, showcasing the amazing South African landscape, innovative building technology and sustainability. This field, first out of three terraced fields, is innovative in many aspects from the approach on leveling the field, to the grass mix and treatment appropriate for sport and local environment, rugby poles that are uniquely designed to allow for easy removal and replacement with soccer goal posts, and so much more.”

“We’re on track to launch phase two of the development, which will include opening the second field, accommodation for 60 athletes and academic facilities offering a sports science and management degree in partnership with ETA.” adds Trufasu.

The third and final phase of the development will include more accommodation, a world-class high-performance centre and gyms, an additional rugby turf field, office space and restaurants, making the R10 Rugby Village in Gordon’s Bay a truly unique rugby destination not only for South Africans but the world.

By the end of completion, the Rugby Village will have all the same types of facilities as the existing Rugby Village in San Clemente, California (USA), yet with a much bigger footprint at 20 ha of space. “We’re aiming to launch phase two in 2026 and look forward to welcoming the rugby and soccer communities to the Rugby Village soon,” shares Derek Nellmapius, co-owner of the Rugby Village.

The first training session was attended by representatives of SA Rugby, including Nico Serfontein (SA Rugby Senior Manager for Community Development), Faizel Felton (Senior Manager Club Rugby) and other rugby representatives like Willem Strauss, (President of the Blue Bulls Rugby and co-founder of the Rugby Village), Bernd Steinhage (President of Young Bafana Academy), Gilbert Modrau (Head Coach of Helderberg Dolphins, Rugby League), Roxanne Gordon (Director of Helderberg Sports Academy), Steed Richardson (Manager of Franchise Ownership, RugbyTots) and few others.

“It’s going to be an outstanding facility for national and international rugby events as it offers a one-stop shop for elite rugby training in the World’s Best City, Cape Town,” says Willem Strauss, President of Blue Bulls Rugby and co-founder of the Rugby Village. “The Rugby Village will offer tremendous value to rugby in general, not just in South Africa, but also the world.”

Group pic with:

Picture caption: Rugby Tens’ HP squad trained at the Rugby Village in Gordon’s Bay for the first time. The team was joined by R10’s Ryno Combrinck, Frankie Horne, Lorinda Brown-Du Plessis and Marithy Pienaar.

About Rugby Tens

R10 is an innovative sports ecosystem that provides sustainable pathways to senior and youth rugby players, coaches, referees and sports administrators to reach their highest potential. Through the 10s rugby format, R10 promotes equality and inclusivity in rugby.

With operations based at the R10 Rugby Villages in San Clemente (USA) and Gordon’s Bay (South Africa), the R10 platform includes:

• High Performance Training: Elite and development training programs for 7s, 10s and 15s, that include rugby skills, game organization, strength, conditioning, speed, agility, nutrition, mentorship and leadership.
• Competitions: A calendar of world-class events and global and regional franchises infrastructure that offers players, coaches and referees international opportunities to compete, gain exposure, and excel in all formats of the sport, including 7s, 10s and 15s.
• Career-Building Pathways: Courses and certifications for coaches and referee advancement, broadcast and commentary, events logistics and more
• The Rugby Villages: World-class training facilities with accommodation, rugby fields, gyms, classrooms, offices and systems in beautiful beach towns.

For more information, visit RugbyTens.com.

Media Contact
Jaco-Louis Groenewald
media@rugbytens.com