Dylan Bettencourt
A Welsh college rugby team has been forced to train in their socks after their luggage was lost in South Africa.
The 30 players from Coleg Gwent landed in Cape Town on Monday and still have not received their luggage. The team flew on Lufthansa from Heathrow through Frankfurt and the airline is yet to comment on the incident.
The team staff members had to take the teenagers shopping for clothes while other rugby teams in South Africa have offered them kits to use.
Coleg Gwent are due to fly to Johannesburg on Friday for two more fixtures as well as to watch the Springboks take on Wales on Saturday, before flying back to Wales on Monday.
Claire Gilfillan, the mother of one of the boys, said the boys were training bare chested and some of them trained barefoot.
“The college has tried to help, taking them shopping to buy little bits, and the local community has been great,” she told the BBC.
The mother added that despite the incident, the boys managed to do the trips they had planned, which included a visit to Table Mountain, but the team still found it stressful.
“It’s the trip of a lifetime, we’ve paid £1,200 (R23,700) for the trip, but they only have the clothes they travelled in,” she said.
“No-one will want to sit next to them at the Wales versus Springboks game!”
Image source: @WelshRugbyUnion
