“Seine-Saint-Denis in green and gold” was the headline in the Seine-Saint-Denis Magazine in September 2007. The 2007 World Cup, already organized in France, was in full swing and the South African team was welcomed with all honors in Noisy-le-Grand, at the Alain Mimoun stadium to be precise.
On this occasion, numerous operations to promote rugby as well as cultural projects highlighting the “Rainbow nation” were set up by the General Council of 93. Butch James, the Springboks fly half, signed autographs under the amazed eyes of college students from 93 while Gert Small, the Sudafs forwards coach, gave a scrum masterclass to young people from Bobigny. The Françoise Dolto de Villepinte and Gérard-Philipe d’Aulnay colleges received students from Cape Town and Durban for an intercultural exchange.
Culturally, things were also happening well with concerts by rappers “Tumi and The Volume” or debates with choreographer Robyn Orlin. Johnny Clegg himself, known for his anti-apartheid commitments, came to play in Seine-Saint-Denis. It all ended with fanfare since Bryan Habana’s teammates also won the World Cup, beating the English 15-6 in the final.
16 years later, we take the same ones and we start again: Sunday’s quarter-final, at the Stade de France, which will pit the Blues of Cameron Woki, trained at AC Bobigny, and the reigning world champions was well worth We take a look in the rearview mirror.
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