The coach of the All Blacks, Scott “Razor” Robertsonand the Forward William Barsley Tos on Wednesday, the San Martín unit visited to meet with the Spartanshe Rugby team made up of people deprived of liberty who are rewriting their history through sport. The meeting, which was supported by the Buenos Aires Ministry of Justice, once again staged the sport as a tool for inclusion and transformation.
Seven years after his first visit to Spartans, the mythical rugby selected from New Zealand met the Argentine team, on the same stage. The San Martín Alberga Penitentiary Complex More than 500 inmates that practice rugby in four sets. “It’s wonderful to see them play. Being part of a team will give them memories for a lifetime.”Robertson said.
The initiative is part of the Spartan integral program, which combines sport, education, spirituality and socio -labor insertion. The model is replicated in 44 criminal units of Argentina and in 16 of Chile, Spain, Uruguay, Peru, El Salvador and Kenya. In total, more than 3000 prisons actively participate in the Spartan community.
The meeting was accompanied by officials of the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights of the Province of Buenos Aires, headed by Juan Martín Mena, and members of the Buenos Aires Penitentiary Service. Authorities of the Spartanos Foundation also participated, including the president, Damián Donnelly; The executive director, Dolores Irigoin, and the founder, Eduardo “Coco” Oderigo, who said: “Receiving a team like the All Black is not just a historical sporting moment; proof that rugby has the ability to open paths and join different realities”.
At the close of the event, Viliami Tosi sang the traditional song of the sothe Maori rite with which the New Zealanders face each party, and that this time became a Symbolic message of courage, respect and hope to each player who today looks for a path away from the crime. The emotion among the players was immediate. Many of them, protagonists of the documentary and the television series based on the project, highlighted the value that sport gave them in their social reintegration process.
Experience is part of an intense agenda that the All Blacks are carrying out in their passage through Argentina, where they will face with Los Pumas This Saturday, in Córdoba. These days, they caught attention in the streets of Buenos Aires by viralizing a video in which several players raised a walking walk in the center, and expressed their fascination after visiting La Bombonera on Saturday 1-1 between Boca and Racing.
Spartans, emerged from the impulse of Oderigo, criminal lawyer, and a handful of volunteers, has become a model replicated in several countries. “The objective is clear: that whoever comes free does not commit crimes”Oderigo summarized at the time, in an interview with The nation.
T -shirts exchanged, hugs, smiles and an image that will be recorded in the memoirs of those present. For the Spartans, every step on the court is also a step towards another life. And for All Blacks, this was an opportunity to confirm that rugby, even in the most difficult contexts, can be a redemption tool.
date: 2025-08-14 07:29:00