Castle Incoming Series Double Header Test
Tomorrow will mark the first ever rugby test match played at Mbombela Stadium in Nelspruit and the people of Mpumalanga have welcomed SARU’s decision to host the Castle Incoming Series in their province, with great excitement.
Mbombela Stadium
Usually they would have to travel 350kms to watch the boys in green and gold play in Pretoria or Johannesburg.
The town population of Nelspruit is 110,159 and it felt as if the entire town had come to welcome the Boks, Scots and Samoans when they arrived earlier this week at KMIA Airport.
For many years, Mbombela (Nelspruit) was known as a far-flung north-eastern outpost of South Africa, offering not much more than easy access for visitors to the world-famous Kruger National Park. In those days, it was a frontier town. Times have changed. Political change and economic development of the N4 Maputo Corridor have transformed the city into a gateway for neighbouring markets, a business centre and a provincial capital. Mbombela, the Siswati word for “a lot of people together in a small space”.
Mbombela Stadium was newly built, at a cost of R 1.2 billion, for the World Cup in 2010, and boasts 40,929 seats.
Mbombela Stadium hosted Honduras, Chile, Italy, New Zealand, Australia, Serbia, Korea DPR and Côte d‘Ivoire in the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
Captains are (from left to right): Paul Williams (Samoa), Sergio Parisse (Italy), Jean de Villiers (South Africa) and Kelly Brown (Scotland).
Tomorrow it hosts South Africa, Scotland, Italy and Samoa
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