Springbok Women's lock Danelle Lochner urges pro pathways for women’s rugby in SA

Springbok Women’s second-rower Danelle Lochner believes her experience playing professionally at English rugby club Harlequins helped her adjust to the pace at the Rugby World Cup, and has urged South African rugby to professionalise the domestic women’s game. 

Lochner, 28, along with Leicester Tigers Women hooker Micke Gunter, are the only Boks currently with overseas professional contracts, although Catha Jacobs, Babalwa Latsha, Lindelwa Gwala and Aseza Hele have all played in England before, while Sinazo Mcatshulwa was also France-based.

The Bulls Daisies are the only professional team locally, and boasted 14 players in the 32-player squad, but Lochner feels the Boks can raise their game to the next level if more players are provided with opportunities. 

“I think it's definitely a massive plus for us (playing professionally), because we get in and we get out playing against some of the best players in the world,” the lock forward said.

“So I think it takes that shell shock out of the game when you get to a World Cup. Obviously, there's still a lot of pressure, and the pressure is a lot different than playing a normal club game.

“But I think having that experience as an individual, like maybe talk to some players if they are struggling and not necessarily knowing what they need to expect.

“But out of everything, I think the thing that I was most excited about for the players to experience is the massive amount of crowds that showed up — and especially the South Africans in England showing up.

“That was unbelievable. That's something that no amount of experience can ever buy. So that's top class.”

Lochner’s journey to the Boks and playing in a Rugby World Cup has been a winding one, with the 28-year-old previously representing the Proteas netball team. She believes this experience also helped her adapt to the demands of the oval-ball game. 

“I think if you are in a high-performance set-up, it's quite easy to join a different high-performance set-up,” she said.

“Obviously it looks a little bit different, but I think any sport that you have, if there's a ball involved — hockey, netball, soccer, whatever — you have that ball coordination.

“You have that skill set already, and now it's just getting your body conditioned for tackling, because obviously that's something completely different.

“But the transition is really, really easy if you have the mindset of a high-performance athlete.”

Outgoing Bok Women’s skipper Nolusindiso Booi, who has hung up her boots after the Rugby World Cup, believes Lochner is her natural successor, as she already is “one of the great lifters, line-out callers, and she's one that is operating the line-outs now”.

Lochner, meanwhile, praised Booi for her role in guiding her when she initially made the switch from netball to the oval-ball game. 

“Getting to work with Cindy, obviously she took me under her wing as soon as I came into the squad,” Lochner said.

“She was the captain back then as well, and also we played four and five then. And I think one thing I definitely would take from her is age is just a number.”