Королевский тур День седьмой

The Duke of Cambridge won royal bragging rights when he coached a "Rippa Rugby" team to victory over opponents led by his wife.

The Royal couple are on the seventh day of their visit to New Zealand, representing The Queen who is Head of State.

Remembering the defeat he suffered last week when The Duchess comprehensively won a yachting challenge, The Duke was determined to win on the pitch.

His team of 10 youngsters did not let him down and they were comfortable winners against The Duchess’s group in front of thousands of cheering fans and at the final whistle he punched the air in delight with both fists.

The Duke could not help teasing his wife and looked in her direction and said "next time, next time". 

The venue for the rematch was the Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin, New Zealand, and featured two teams of youngsters who had won through to the final of a day-long tag rugby tournament for five to seven year olds.

Rippa rugby is a non-contact form of the sport designed for primary school children with players ripping a flag from the belt of an opponent instead of tackling them.

Huriana Manuel, Captain of New Zealand's womens rugby sevens team, joined William in supporting the winning Clutha team from the town of South Otago near Dunedin. She said the Duke was determined not to lose.

"He brought something special to the team, he's lost a few competitions to his wife and he really wanted to win," she said. "He said to the kids, 'Make sure you go out there and enjoy yourself', and the win followed from that."

The Royal couple were casually dressed for the event with The Duchess in a cream jumper by Jonathan Saunders, white blouse, dark leggings and pumps, while The Duke had a similar ensemble of sweater, shirt and trousers.

New Zealand All Blacks captain Richie McCaw was on hand to give support to The Duchess as she led the Pirates, a Dunedin team. 

The Duke first watched McCaw play on New Zealand soil when he flew to the Commonwealth country to follow the British and Irish Lions tour against the All Blacks in 2005.

The couple both chatted at length to their teams before they took to the pitch and clapped whenever one of the diminutive players, both girls and boys, scampered over the line for a try.

Gemma Tuhega, a teacher who was with the Pirates, said: "She didn't know too much about the game, she was getting to know the kids."

At the presentation ceremony The Duke nd Duchess handed out medals to all the teams and then personally put them round the necks of the winning team and runners-up. McCaw gave a short speech and joked how the scores were now even between The Duke and Duchess saying that things had been "levelled up".

The couple then enjoyed sampling some of New Zealand's reknowned wines at the Amisfield Winery in Queenstown.

Later in the day, The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge enjoyed the exhilarating, adrenalin rush of a jet boat ride through stunning New Zealand scenery.

The Duke and Duchess played tourists for the afternoon and experienced the white knuckle ride that is one of the country's most popular attractions.

The Royal couple had flown to Queenstown on New Zealand's South Island, nestled between mountains and beside a picturesque lake that is a destination for snowboarders, skiers and was the place where the bungee jump was invented.

The Duke and Duchess tried out the famous Shotover Jet, which takes 130,000 tourists a year on trips along the fast flowing Shotover River.

After donning large protective lifejackets, the casually-dressed couple were joined by others in the boats affectionately known as the "big reds".

The jet boat, which is designed to be able to speed along in water just a few inches deep, nips between trees and close to obstacles before veering away at the last minute.

After the ride, which lasted more than 30 minutes, The Duke and Duchess returned and clapped their driver, Wayne Paton.

He said: "They loved it. The Prince wanted me to go closer, he said, 'You can go closer than that'.

"There were some screams, but not from them."

Before starting their journey down the river the Royal couple waved for souvenir photographs - which were given to them afterwards - and greeted hundreds of tourists and locals who had gathered downstream to see them.

During the jet boat ride Mr Paton piloted the royals inches from the sides of a steep canyon then swerved away before they hit the sides.

Speaking about The Duke, he added: "It didn't seem to faze him at all.  He was right into it and so was The Duchess.

"They didn't even get too wet, there was just a little bit of spray.

"He seemed to know a lot about the boats, because The Duchess was saying it was very shallow and he was saying 'You only need this much water' and holding his fingers apart to show 10 centimetres, which is the draft of the boat when it's moving."

Before getting in the boat The Duchess was presented with a posy by Maggie Langford, five, whose father Martin works for Ngai Tahu Tourism, owner of the Shotover Jet.

When they got off the boat they met children from Arrowtown Primary School, which the Duke had been due to visit in 2005 when his aircraft was unable to land because of fog.

Joelle Healey, the teacher who accompanied the children, said: "William promised that he would come back some time, and when he knew he was coming to this area he asked to meet us.

"The Duchess was talking to me about the boat ride, she said she loved it, and would recommend it to anyone."

Mrs Healey gave The Duchess six children's books by local authors as a gift for Prince George.

As the Royal couple spoke to the children, The Duke said: "Have you been on the boat? When they said it was fast I didn't realise it was quite that fast! It got really close to the rocks."

The Duchess told them: "We didn't get wet, but the people on the outside seemed to get a lot more wet."

По материалам:

http://www.dukeandduchessofcambridge.org/

http://www.hellomagazine.com/

http://www.hola.com