Mind your Language

[Мастер]

And what language would that be?

[Heid the Ba]

Looks African to me, but anything else would be a guess. If it is African then they have a very blonde team.

Something, something hooker . . .

[Мастер]

Looks African to me, but anything else would be a guess.

It looks African, because it is!

If it is African then they have a very blonde team.

It is a document published by the World Rugby Union, translated into several languages. The pictures are the same in all editions.

[Heid the Ba]

It looks African, because it is!

I would say Southern African, simply because it looks a bit like Zulu names and placenames but after that I'm out of ideas.

If it is African then they have a very blonde team.

It is a document published by the World Rugby Union, translated into several languages. The pictures are the same in all editions.

Ah, I didn't think the sleeve decoration on the arm of the woman in the scrumcap with her hand on the fullback's jacksie looked African. Why yes, I did spend a bit too long looking at the photo' for clues as to the language.

[Мастер]

It looks African, because it is!

I would say Southern African, simply because it looks a bit like Zulu names and placenames but after that I'm out of ideas.

It is indeed Southern African (or even South African), but not Zulu.

[Heid the Ba]

The only other guess in my big bag of South African languages is Xhosa. Which is spoken with a lot of clicks and other noises but I have no idea how it is transcribed.

Still unable to identify the team, though I'm tending towards Eastern European. I was surprised by how white the US Women's team is, but it isn't them.

[Мастер]

The only other guess in my big bag of South African languages is Xhosa. Which is spoken with a lot of clicks and other noises but I have no idea how it is transcribed.

Well now you do have an idea of how it is transcribed.

http://laws.worldrugby.org

Still unable to identify the team, though I'm tending towards Eastern European. I was surprised by how white the US Women's team is, but it isn't them.

A look at the English version of the document does not shed any light on this mystery.

[Heid the Ba]

Just as well it is Xhosa as I was completely out of ideas.

I really am spending too much effort on this, but from the number of players in the photo' and the numbers on their shirts (and the three who have wrapping on their legs for the lineouts) I think it is a sevens squad. Which doesn't help identify them. The only clues are that they are all white, the sleeve pattern on the tops, and the purple/yellow/white colours. It isn't a major rugby nation, possibly not even an international side though the rest of the photos are.