Canceled last year, the Anglet Beach Rugby Festival returns to Sables d’Or beach on Friday 23, Saturday 24 and Sunday 25 July 2021. More than 200 male and female teams are expected to attend.
We were a few hours away from the intervention of the President of the Republic Emmanuel Macron, about the continuation of the Covid-19 pandemic, on Monday, July 12, when Pierre Nouqueret and Pierre Massac, of the Hondarra agency, made the official presentation of the 29th edition of l’Anglet Beach Rugby Festival at the restaurant Le Lieu des pêcheur, by Jérôme Thion, at the Chambre d’Amour.
Claude Olive, mayor of Anglet, warned of possible restrictions on organizational conditions. “They risk complicating our lives,” feared the city councilor, before the presidential intervention. It seems, since, that this is not the case, subject, perhaps, to verification of health pass for the players. More than 200 teams of eight participants are expected.
Africa in the spotlight
Pierre Massac and Pierre Nouqueret and the team around them are ready to take on verification rules if necessary. A first positive sign was, however, manifested during this presentation. It was raining hard. What in the history of Anglo-English beach rugby, augurs well for good weather at the time of its unfolding.
The theme of this edition is Africa (it must have been last year) in the wake of the Rugby World Cup won in 2019 by South Africa. “We will not be able to receive, because of the Covid-19, the teams that we wanted to invite, regretted Pierre Nouqueret. We will still receive a young referee from Cotonou, Benin. “
The Serge Betsen Academy, founded by the former 3rd row and captain of the France and Biarritz Olympique team and a loyal supporter of Anglo-English beach rugby, will also be honored during this edition, in which he has promised to participate. .
Aired on Noa
Yannick Queyrou, vice-president of the Ligue de Nouvelle-Aquitaine, which set up the weekend of July 10 and 11, beach rugby in Capbreton, in the Landes, brought good news. “Anglet is the benchmark festival for us,” he said. We have just launched Capbreton with the aim of creating from 2022, a circuit with several stages along the Atlantic Coast. »Note that this year, the entire Anglet Beach Rugby Festival will be broadcast on the digital channel Noa from France 3 Nouvelle-Aquitaine.
The Anglet Beach Rugby Festival is therefore emulating. Its success over the years cannot be denied. More than 200 teams are involved in the different tournaments. That of the Iguanas, the locomotive of the festival, welcomes this year 64 teams for the second day, Saturday July 24. “Which constitutes a record”, for Pierre Nouqueret. Sunday July 25, at 3:30 p.m., 4:30 p.m. and 5:10 p.m., all-star matches with the Serge Betsen Academy and French Legends teams.
Among the novelties, the girls of the Biarritz Olympique Association will organize ball touching parties for children. There will also be a wheelchair rugby tournament. Each day will end with DJ evenings with NRJ and on the decks, Martin Martin and Morgan Nagoya, radio star DJs.
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