The Prince of Wales heard the cry “tackle the prince” when he challenged a group of teenagers to a game of touch rugby near Cape Town.
William joined former South Africa rugby internationals he called “legends” to take on the fast-footed schoolchildren from townships benefiting from a sporting project founded by ex-England rugby star Jason Leonard.
The prince has begun a four-day visit to South Africa to promote his Earthshot Prize awards ceremony being hosted in Cape Town, and attend a range of events highlighting his environmental project, young African environmentalists and the fight against the illegal wildlife trade.
Earlier, when he met a group of young climate change activists, he told them: “All of you in this room are future change-makers, you’re the leaders, you’re the people going to make the difference going forwards.”
On the school rugby pitch the future king played with former Springboks Joel Stransky and Tendai Mtawarira, nicknamed “The Beast”, who joked about his last meeting with William – when he wore just a towel.
“You’re still as big as you were – bigger,” William said after shaking hands with the imposing ex-player, and the group laughed when they reminisced about meeting in a changing room.
Mtawarira, now an entrepreneur who runs his own charitable foundation, said later that William met the South African players after they beat Wales to win the Prince William Cup more than a decade ago.
“He came into the changing room and I was only dressed in my towel and I shook his hand, and I said it was nice to shake your hand now I’m fully dressed as opposed to half naked,” he said, laughing.
Leonard hosted the visit and introduced William to groups of teenage boys and girls being coached as part of his Atlas Foundation, operating in 19 countries, which uses rugby to help disadvantaged children.
William seemed keen to get his hands on the ball, and joined The Beast on a team that bravely tried to pass their way past the youngsters from Ocean View Secondary School in Ocean View, as one young player shouted “tackle the prince”.
At one point two teenagers grabbed William, stopping him in his tracks and leaving him laughing, and later The Beast playfully shoved a scrum back and allowed the prince to run in for an unopposed try.
Blessings Gwedeza, 17, one of a number of young players who managed to tackle the prince, said afterwards: “It was an honour to meet him, to have the opportunity to play against him is something I won’t forget.”
Leonard, who was a member of England’s 2003 Rugby World Cup-winning squad, said: “As a player I travelled all over the world to some of the most beautiful places but sadly some of the most beautiful places in the world also have huge deprivation and poverty.
“Giving the children the opportunity to come here lets them be a child, and forget about their lives (in the townships) for a few hours.”
William also toured a mobile classroom in a coach provided by the Atlas Foundation and heard about the meals provided for the children. Before leaving he posed for a group photo with the young rugby players and sporting legends.
The prince began his day chatting to 120 teenage environmental activists taking part in the inaugural Earthshot Prize Climate Leaders Youth Programme.
He told the young people: “The Earthshot Prize believes in you and the reason we set the prize up is for moments like this,” after speaking to them about their ideas to tackle climate issues, which included a business making handbags out of old tyres.
“All of you in this room are future change-makers, you’re the leaders, you’re the people going to make the difference going forwards,” he said.
“It’s your platform, use it as you need to, take it away, play with it, turn it into something different.
“Because we believe in you and what you’re going to do is change the world, I really believe that.”
Throughout the week, the young people are taking part in immersive masterclasses designed to develop their skills in leadership, storytelling and networking around taking action on climate issues, and opening doors for them to secure future internships and jobs.
On Wednesday the Earthshot Prize awards ceremony will be held and five category winners will each receive £1 million to “scale up” their plans to “repair” the planet.