Speel Rugby MyZA

“Play Rugby” (or “Speel Rugby” in Afrikaans) is a brand new book aimed at children to teach them the joys of playing rugby safely from a young age. It stars Bokkie and and is fully endorsed by the South African Rugby Union.

Pearson, one of South Africa’s leading educational publishers, and SARU first discussed the concept for the book early in 2010 and have spent the last year putting together a book that is packed with information kids could relate to.

According to Dr Wayne Viljoen, manager of BokSmart, SARU’s rugby safety programme, this book will play a big role in educating children from a young age about the very basics of rugby.

“The book not only brings to the fore the fun aspect of rugby, but also provides children with some valuable safety tips,” said Viljoen.

“It is also worth noting that all people who coach and referee rugby players in South Africa, have to be trained in the safest technical requirements of the game, and have to be BokSmart Certified before doing so.

“This is especially important in our younger and future Springboks. For more safety related information, also consult www.BokSmart.com and join our Facebook page on www.Facebook.com/BokSmart.”

Karen Simpson, publisher at Pearson, said: “The teams at Pearson and SARU have worked incredibly hard to make sure this is a publication we can all be proud of. We’ve paid special attention to look and feel of the book and to making sure the content is varied, relevant, exciting and easy to read.”

The result is a beautifully designed full-colour 80 page book is perfect for 8 to 14 year-olds and for anybody who needs to brush up on any aspect of the game. The book contains everything you need to know to become a rugby star.

Readers can:

find out how the field works, what happens behind the scenes and what rules and laws they need to know;
read about their favourite competitions, teams and heroes and study all the latest statistics;
find out how to warm up and play safe and be healthy players;
follow the step-by-step instructions to learn to kick, catch, pass and tackle just like their rugby heroes.

“Play Rugby” is written by Andy Colquhoun, General Manager of Corporate Affairs SARU. The introduction is written by John Smit and many other famous South African players are featured in the pages with the stories of how their rugby careers started and developed.

The book also features action photographs, Bokkie cartoons, activities, quizzes and a bonus DVD containing SARU’s Bokkie animations and a 10 minute clip showing how Bokkie was created.

Play Rugby is also available in Afrikaans as “Speel Rugby”. Both books are available at all leading bookshops and online. If you can’t find a copy in store, contact Pearson Customer Services at 021 5326009.