Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 51, October 2013

Running and Sport brought to you by Touch Go Touch rugby is a hugely popular social sport in South Africa, but a much lesser known sport is competitive 6-Down Touch, and one of the stars of the sport is Gillian Blackshaw, a veteran of three World Cups. – BY SEAN FALCONER Placing a rollball, World Cup 2011 in Scotland. It was at varsity that Gill was introduced to 6-Down. “In my third year, some guys in the department invited us to play, and a couple of us girls thought why not. We had a couple of practices, then played the Western Province team – and got thumped. A lot of us then entered the Cape Town league and soon improved.” The following year Gill made the Western Province team, going on to be selected for the SA squad for the last three World Cups, in Japan (2003), South Africa (2007) and Scotland (2011), and helping the SA mixed team finish fourth in Japan and third in SA, then helping the over-30s senior mixed team end third in Scotland. Overall, the SA team did well to finish third at all three World Cups, but Gill says getting to these tournaments is a challenge. “Touch is a small sport and we need to pay our own way. The next World Cup is in Australia, so it may not be SA’s strongest team going. Also, a lot of younger players come from less privileged communities and can’t afford tours for provincial tournaments, let alone World Cups.” ost of us know the basic rules of touch rugby, but in 6-Down, teams have six ‘downs,’ or restarts, to score a try, after which possession is turned over. When touched while carrying the ball, a player must place the ball on the Travis with SA team ground and step mate Richard Murray. over it – this is called a rollball – and a teammate then picks up and continues play. “The game is virtually non-stop, so you need to ????????????t??????????q???????????????????????????????]??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????t()4()Q??????????????????]???? ????????Q?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????e???????e??????????????????????????????????????qQ???????????????????????????????????????????L?????????????????????????????????L?????????????????????????????????t??????????qQ????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????$???????????????????????????????????t()I=]%9?A=AU1I%Qd(???????????????????????????????????????????????9??i????????M??????????????????????????????????q%??????????????????????????????????????????-?????M?????????????????????????????t??????????q!??????M??Q??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????I??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????Q?????M??'?e?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????M?????????????????????????????????????????????t()%??????? ??????????? ???????()1I9%9? UIY)????????????????? ????Q??????????????? ?!????5??????M???????M??????????U???????????????????????????????????M???????????????????I????????!????M??????????????? ????Q????????????????????????U,???????????????????????????????I?????????1?????????????????????????A?????????A??????????????????????????????e?Q?????????????()Q?????????]???? ??????????M?()????????????????????????????????((??((0

Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 51, October 2013 | Page 19