CLUTCHING the ball with both hands, Gloria Nene charges past opponents and proudly scores a try. The 11-year-old girl traded in Boro Boro, South Sudan's equivalent of dodgeball, for rugby a few months ago and already has decided she wants to go pro.

"It's good to play. If you're outside doing nothing you might fight with friends and you won't get to know each other," she said.

Civil war-torn South Sudan this year launched its first rugby league since it won independence from Sudan in 2011, finding in the rough-and-tumble sport a way to promote peace.