Springbok Women continue their reign

Image courtesy of Rugby Africa.

The Rugby Africa Women’s Cup wrapped up on Sunday, 15 June, and the Springbok Women were crowned champions for the fourth time. They also maintain their record as the only team to have won the title.

The competition was launched in 2019 as an opportunity for the top women’s teams in Africa to test their skills against each other, and also offers a pathway to WXV and Rugby World Cup qualification. The 2020 contest was cancelled due to COVID, while in 2021 it was replaced with a series of Tests, and in 2022, twelve teams were split into four pools, and the winners of each pool qualified for the 2023 tournament, when the traditional format resumed.  

This year’s iteration of the competition took place in Madagascar, and was contested by the host nation, as well as Kenya, South Africa, and Uganda. The Springbok Women were convincing victors in their first game, beating Uganda 62-7, while Kenya ran them close in match two, which they held on to win 19-12 after two quick tries from the Lionesses in the final ten minutes. The closing match of the tournament saw the Springbok Women score another comprehensive victory, this time against hosts Madagascar, winning 61-17, and securing the title.

Of course, without being arrogant (and victory is never a foregone conclusion), it could be argued that the Springbok Women are in a different league to the rest of the competition, so it would be quite the upset if they didn’t win. The South Africans have played at least double the number of Tests any of the other three teams participating this year have played (and in the case of Madagascar, it’s more than quadruple!), frequently against higher ranking teams from around the world, offering the opportunity for growth. They’ve participated in four Rugby World Cups, while the other teams have yet to qualify, and are currently ranked 12th in the world, while Kenya is ranked 20th, Madagascar 26th, and Uganda 33rd. Maybe it's not the most balanced contest, but it’s an important chance for all involved to get much-needed game time, build depth, and test their skills. And the Kenya Lionesses, who finished second overall, will be asking themselves if they could have taken out the Springbok Women if they’d just started the game the way they finished it, it was that close. They were formidable in their victories against Madagascar and Uganda as well, and are definitely a team on the up.

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That being said, the Springbok Women made full use of the opportunity to build depth and blood new talent in this tournament. Twelve uncapped players were included in the squad of 28 that travelled to Madagascar, and only four players in the squad had 20 caps or more. New captain, Anathi Qolo, has played more than 50 times for the Bulls Daisies, but only made her debut for the national team against Spain last year. It was also an opportunity for assistant coaches Bafana Nhleko and Franzel September to take the reins, while head coach Swys de Bruin remained in South Africa to run a position-specific training camp in preparation for the upcoming games against Canada and the Black Ferns XV. The coaches will be thrilled with the way the relatively inexperienced team performed in Madagascar, showcasing their ability to deliver in the green and gold, and offering potential additional selection options in an all-important World Cup year.

The team will now turn all their attention to the upcoming Tests against Canada, taking place on 5 July at Loftus and 12 July at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, with both games at 13:30. Tickets to the Springbok games against Italy at those venues on the same day include entry to the Springbok Women’s games, so be sure to be there for these exciting double-headers!