Bautista Segonds is no Nelson Mandela, or any other kind of political figure for that matter.

But like the former South African president, Segonds is hoping rugby can help mend relationships made frail by decades of divisions.

Segonds is leading a rugby tour of the Falkland Islands trying to use the sport to help erase bitter memories of a war 29 years ago between Britain and Argentina that left more than 900 dead.

Britain has ruled the South Atlantic islands - known in Spanish as Las Malvinas - for almost 180 years, but Argentina still claims them.

But all that is beside the point to Segonds.

"We are not the Argentine government, and we are not interested in the English government," Segonds said by telephone from the capital of the Falkland Islands, Stanley.

"What happened can't be changed. There was a war, but our children do not have to live with our errors. Our kids need to look forward and play rugby together."

Segonds is president of an Argentine body called Rugby sin Fronteras (Rugby without Borders), which has had a delegation in the Falklands for a week holding clinics and trying to break down barriers. It's the second such diplomatic mission by Rugby sin Fronteras, following one two years ago.

Segonds said his 14-member delegation received a "somewhat frigid" reception from the islanders, who speak with a strong British accent and are loyal to Britain.

And getting there wasn't easy. There are no direct flights from Argentina to the Falklands, which are located just 460 kilometres off the South American coast.

"Our arrival is always done cautiously," he said.

"The people who live here are always wary."

Things have warmed up since. In fact, Thursday heated up with a full-blown match with young islanders, Argentine war veterans and at least one British veteran mixing it up on two integrated teams.

"It was beautiful and we all enjoyed it," Segonds said.

So much so that Friday- which was to be a day off - was turned into a work day when kids attending the clinics demanded more training time. The clinic ends on Sunday.

"The kids don't want us to leave," Segonds said. "They even want to play on our day off."

While Mandela's attempts to rally both blacks and whites behind the national rugby team during the 1995 World Cup became a turning point in his efforts to unite a country that had been separated by apartheid, the Argentine group's goals are much more modest.

Luis Etchenique, an Argentine who is executive director of Rugby sin Fronteras, said the organisation is apolitical and simply aims to teach values like teamwork, respect, humility, camaraderie and collaboration.

"The idea is to bring people together," Etchenique said. "There is no intent to conquer. We are showing that the political interests are not always the same as the interests of people."

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