A MULTI-national team will join Cheltenham teacher Richard Bennett on his pioneering expedition to spread the word of rugby in Africa.

After an exhaustive selection process, Dean Close School teacher Bennett has decided on seven of his eight-strong Bhubesi Pride team that will leave Cheltenham in January for Africa.

But there is still one more place for a woman left to fill – with applications open.

The team will travel across Africa, teaching children rugby skills and delivering health and social skills.

It begins Ethiopia, going through Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, Botswana and Namibia.

Bennett said: "I am confident I have selected a group of individuals who be able to compliment each others' skills and personalities and bring a vast range of experience, dedication and enthusiasm to the project.

"It would be fantastic for a second female team member to bring their expertise and value to Bhubesi Pride's project. I'm for a highly qualified individual, at ease in a team and working with children."

The members are:

■ Austrian Amir Yassari, 29, he coached his national team's Under-18s side in 2008 and is involved in the selection of the Austrian rugby team and coaches at the rugby club Stade Viennois. Yassari will also be the team's medic and photographer during their five month trip.

■ Matthew Fieldhouse, 24, from Newcastle, played for Mahurangi RFC in New Zealand – sponsored by the Newcastle Falcons. He now plays for Tynedale RFC and is employed by the RFU as a community rugby coach in Sunderland.

Fieldhouse, who will be a curriculum co-ordinator on the expedition, said: "Being part of a team that will help so many people use rugby as a positive life tool is so exciting."

■ Italian Giovanni Ghelfi, 36, started coaching rugby in New Zealand in 1999 and helped with the coaching and selection of Under-16s in Italy – and was the backs coach for the Taieri Colts in Dunedin.

■ Scot Nadia Lipsey, 29, from Glasgow, has already worked with children in South Africa, Australia and the USA. In Durban, South Africa, she helped with street children and taught in a township creche.

She said: "I can't wait to be a part of something that combines my love of rugby and social justice."

■ Severin Prats, 25, from France, played professional rugby between 2005 and 2009 for SC Albi and Bordeaux-Begles in his home country and for Christchurch in New Zealand.

■ Jim Butler, 57, originally from Cirencester but now living in Suffolk, co-ordinated an overland expedition supporting Help to Amani, transporting aid to the Amani Children's Home in Moshi, Tanzania. He will also help the team with vehicle maintenance and logistics.