The Springbok Women's Sevens team will hope to carry their form from the SNVS 2 tournament in Nairobi into the South American leg later this month.
Image: SA RUGBY
Springbok Women’s Sevens coach Cecil Afrika has mixed experience with exciting new talent for the crucial South American leg of the SVNS 2 series as South Africa chase top spot in the standings.
Afrika named a 14-player squad for the tournaments in Montevideo (March 21-22 ) and Sao Paulo (March 28-29). Maceala Samboya, Shanidiné Bezuidenhout, and Catha Jacobs are set to bolster the squad as the Bok Women look to build on a strong showing in Nairobi last month, where they won four of their five matches to climb to second on the log behind Argentina.
Eleven players from that squad have been retained, with the injured Leigh Fortuin the only absentee. Back-to-back SA Rugby Women’s Player of the Year, Nadine Roos, will once again captain the side. Afrika said the team left Kenya with valuable lessons after finishing strongly.
“Our kick-offs received need to be better because there were a lot of opportunities that we missed from those high balls,” Afrika explained. “There were also plenty of chances in the opposition 22 that we couldn’t convert. If we can convert those opportunities, then we can finish number one and that is our goal.
"What we did in Nairobi is not going to help us this time around. We have to start from scratch again, but we can take confidence from finishing second. The mentality must be that we finished last so that we really work hard for every point we score.”
Among the new faces, Samboya brings experience from the fifteens game, having represented South Africa at the Women’s Rugby World Cup in England last year. The elusive runner has recovered from a knee injury that previously slowed her progress.
Jacobs, meanwhile, returns to the sevens fold after last appearing in the 2019 HSBC SVNS Cape Town tournament. Since then she has built considerable international experience with the Bok Women in the fifteens game, including appearances at the 2022 and 2025 Rugby World Cups.
Afrika believes the trio will add important depth to the squad. “Catha has a very good presence and is very physical,” he said.
“Shanidiné is new to sevens but is a fast learner with good skills carried over from her netball days, and Maceala is a very special player with good footwork. I’m excited to see what she can do once we get her into space.”
South Africa open their campaign in Montevideo against Spain – the same opponent they faced first in Kenya – before meeting China and Brazil on the opening day. Kenya and Argentina await on day two. The Bok Women edged Spain by two points in their previous meeting and Afrika expects another fierce contest.
With the top four teams qualifying for the HSBC SVNS World Championship events in Hong Kong (April 17-19), Valladolid (May 29-31 ), and Bordeaux (June 5-7), the South American leg could define the Springbok Women's season.
Springbok Women’s Sevens squad for South America:
2 Asisipho Plaatjies, 3 Patience Mokone, 7 Maria Tshiremba, 9 Nadine Roos (captain), 10 Byrhandré Dolf, 12 Liske Lategan, 14 Simamkele Namba, 16 Shiniqwa Lamprecht, 19 Shanidiné Bezuidenhout, 20 Catha Jacobs, 23 Ayanda Malinga, 26 Lerato Makua, 27 Maceala Samboya, 28 Shannon-Lee Windvogel.