The Mastercard Golden Lions Women scored a third tournament win in the SA Rugby Women’s Premier Division, beating the Cell C Sharks Women in Alberton on Saturday to move past their Durban opponents on the points log, while in East London, Border Ladies needed a strong second half to beat EP Queens. In another pulsating finish in Cape Town, DHL Western Province only secured the winning points against Boland Dames in the last play of the match. The Bulls Daisies, who had a bye, are still sitting pretty on top of the standings, followed by WP and Border, with the Lions now in fourth. In...

The Mastercard Golden Lions Women scored a third tournament win in the SA Rugby Women’s Premier Division, beating the Cell C Sharks Women in Alberton on Saturday to move past their Durban opponents on the points log, while in East London, Border Ladies needed a strong second half to beat EP Queens. In another pulsating finish in Cape Town, DHL Western Province only secured the winning points against Boland Dames in the last play of the match. The Bulls Daisies, who had a bye, are still sitting pretty on top of the standings, followed by WP and Border, with the Lions now in fourth. In...

  The Springbok Women shifted gears in the second half of their Test against Kenya on Saturday, beating their African counterparts by 77-12 (half-time 24-12) on a cold and windy afternoon at the University of the Western Cape in Cape Town, where Veroeshka Grain celebrated her return to the national side with hat-trick of tries. South Africa started well, but a lapse in concentration allowed Kenya a mini-comeback before the break. The second half belonged to the Bok Women though, who scored 53 points without reply as their pack took control of the match and the team found their...

Banyana depart for the US to face the former FIFA Women’s World Cup champions 17 September 2023 – Banyana Banyana departed for the United States of America on Sunday night (17 September 2023) ahead of their two international friendly matches against the former FIFA Women’s World Cup champions this month.   Coach Desiree Ellis’ charges assembled for camp in Johannesburg on Saturday evening (16 September 2023) in preparation for the trip and they will face the US women’s national soccer team in matches to be played on...

  It will be a reunion of sorts for Catha Jacobs at Athlone Stadium on Saturday when the Springbok Women No 8 lines up for her country against the Barbarians in what she believes will be a highly entertaining match to watch. Jacobs was in the South African squad that last played against the Baabaas in December 2021 at Twickenham, a match the famous club in white and black jerseys won handsomely. Few knew at the time how the Springbok Women were severely disadvantaged when the match was moved forward a couple of hours and the logistical nightmare that followed when the clash between...

Springbok Women eager to expand rugby footprint There is deep gratitude and excitement in the ranks of the Springbok Women squad as they prepare to take on Samoa in a test match in Hermanus on Saturday as this will give them yet another opportunity to strengthen their identity as a team, on and off the field. That is the view of Springbok Women captain Babalwa Latsha in preparation of the match, which is scheduled to start at 15h00 at Hermanus High School. It will be both teams’ final opportunity to prepare in a match situation before WXV 2 kick offs in Stellenbosch next Friday. The...

Stalemate for Bok Women and Samoa in Hermanus A tough Test between the Springbok Women and Manusina Samoa ended in a 17-17 draw (half-time 10-10) on an overcast Saturday afternoon in Hermanus, where the home team scored three tries to two. It was a proper hit-out for both team less than a week before WXV 2 kicks off, but the Bok Women would not have been happy with a number of silly penalties and unforced errors conceded, while their discipline also let them down at times during the match. Although their defence was mostly on point, the South Africans struggled to contain the big Samoan...

Zambia and Mozambique confirmed their places in the semifinals of the 2023 HOLLYWOODBETS COSAFA Women’s Championship after wins over Comoros and Angola respectively in the deciding Group B matches in Gauteng on Tuesday. Defending champions Zambia were forced to kick into second gear by Comoros, who came into their decider already eliminated as they held them to 1-1 draw at the break. Fridah Kabwe, who netted a hattrick, opened the scoring for Zambia in the opening 20 minutes, but that goal was canceled by Mohamed Rouika four minutes before half time. When they returned after the break, Kabwe...

Ahead of the start of World Rugby’s new annual global women’s 15s competition, players representing the 12 nations competing in WXV 2 and WXV 3 gathered in Cape Town and Dubai. Women’s rugby is ready to take its “biggest step forward” this weekend as the inaugural WXV 2 and WXV 3 tournaments get underway in Stellenbosch and Dubai. It is hoped that WXV, World Rugby’s new three-level annual global women’s 15s competition, can help supercharge the test game by giving national teams access to more top-level matches. That was certainly a sentiment echoed by the players who gathered in Cape Town...

    South African Hockey has today announced the South African Indoor Hockey Women’s team for the inaugural Tuanku Zaara Womens International tournament to be held in Malaysia. The tournament is the first outing for the South African women since the FIH Indoor Hockey World Cup in February, where they finished 4th and saw themselves climb to an all-time high of 6th in the world rankings. The tournament will see the South Africans take on the hosts Malaysia, European’s Switzerland, the Oceanic pair of Australia and New Zealand and fellow Africans Namibia. It is a new...

Their aim was to win the Rugby Africa Women's Sevens Olympic Qualifier and secure their spot to the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, and that is exactly what the Springbok Women's Sevens team did in Tunisia on Sunday. And for that effort by his players – they beat Kenya by 12-7 in the final after an earlier 31-0 victory over Zambia in the semi-finals – head coach Renfred Dazel said he will be forever grateful. “I feel so happy for the players who worked so hard to achieve this – we were denied in 2016 and 2020, but this time it is official, and it’s such a great feeling,” said Dazel. "We...

South African Hockey has today announced the SA Women’s Hockey Team to participate in the African Hockey Road to Paris 2024 Qualifier taking place in just under two weeks in Pretoria. The winner of the 7-team tournament will earn a spot at the Paris Olympic Games in July 2024. South Africa are in Pool A of the tournament alongside Nigeria and Zimbabwe with the top two teams advancing to the Semi-Finals. Head Coach Giles Bonnet and his selectors have announced an 18-player squad for the tournament. Seven of the players that were part of the 2021 Olympics in Tokyo remain as the core of the squad...

16 October 2023 – Long-serving Banyana Banyana player Janine van Wyk will be named in the team to face DR Congo in two 2024 CAF Women’s Olympic qualifiers this month. Coach Desiree Ellis’ squad for the qualifiers will be named in the coming days and the two matches will be used as a send-off for Van Wyk, who set to bring the curtain down on her glittering career after the games. The much-loved Van Wyk has earned 183 international caps during a gloried career and should Ellis play her in the two matches, she will become the most capped player, male or female, on the continent. Banyana Banyana...

Despite being a regular starter at scrumhalf and fairly injury-free, it took Tayla Kinsey all of a decade to get to 30 Test caps for the Springbok Women, and on Friday, she and her teammates will face Italy for only the second time ever since South Africa started playing international rugby in 2004. With that in mind, it is no wonder the 30-year-old is singing the praises of the inaugural WXV competition, and Kinsey is adamant that the Springbok Women will benefit hugely from playing top ten-ranked teams in the world on consecutive weekends, having been edged by Scotland last Friday. “This...

Friday and Saturday’s action at Athlone Sports Stadium in Cape Town After three cracking fixtures kicked off WXV 2 in style in week one, the six countries involved in the tournament are ready to do it all again. The sides were brilliantly hosted at the Danie Craven Stadium in Stellenbosch last time out but have now moved onto Athlone Sports Stadium in Cape Town where we can expect three more exciting matches. With this tournament running until 28 October, every match really does count, and fans are likely to be on the edge of their seats watching the next three encounters. Here is...

World Rugby has confirmed the Emirates Match Official appointments for the final rounds of WXV 2 in South Africa and WXV 3 in Dubai. The new elite women’s 15s competition has been taking place over the past two weekends with Italy top of WXV 2 on points difference from Scotland with Ireland sitting on top of the WXV 3 standings from Spain with all four teams unbeaten so far. Kat Roche (USA) will take charge of the Scotland v Japan match on Friday with Natarsha Ganley (New Zealand) refereeing the other encounter with a bearing on the WXV 2 title race, USA v Italy on Saturday. Clara Munarini...

World Rugby has confirmed the Emirates Match Official appointments for the final rounds of WXV 2 in South Africa and WXV 3 in Dubai. The new elite women’s 15s competition has been taking place over the past two weekends with Italy top of WXV 2 on points difference from Scotland with Ireland sitting on top of the WXV 3 standings from Spain with all four teams unbeaten so far. Kat Roche (USA) will take charge of the Scotland v Japan match on Friday with Natarsha Ganley (New Zealand) refereeing the other encounter with a bearing on the WXV 2 title race, USA v Italy on Saturday. Clara Munarini...

WXV 2: Scotland get the job done against Japan, South Africa win Scotland overcame a slow start against Japan to win 38-7 and secure the bonus-point win they need to stay firmly in the race for the WXV 2 title, while the Springbok Women finished their campaign on a high with a 33-7 victory against a battling Samoa. A penalty try on the stroke of half-time and further scores from Emma Orr, twice, and Coreen Grant, Lana Skeldon and Sarah Bonar handed Scotland maximum points on a windy day in Cape Town where the conditions made it the proverbial game of two halves. Following the 38-7 win, Scotland...

Italy ran in five tries to beat USA 30-8 in Cape Town, but lost out on the inaugural title to Scotland on points difference. Italy missed out on the WXV 2 title by the narrowest of margins despite recording a bonus-point 30-8 victory over USA in Cape Town on Saturday. The result left the Azzurre tied with Scotland on 15 points at the top of the WXV 2 standings, but it was the Scots who were crowned champions thanks to their marginally superior points difference (+55 to Italy's +53). Hours earlier, it was the Women's Eagles who took the lead through a Gabriella Cantorna penalty on the 14-minute...

In the afterglow of a tremendous sporting evening for South Africa as the Springboks lifted a fourth World Cup title, the South African Women’s Hockey team began their quest to earn a place at the Paris Olympics in 2024. Their opening fixture at the African Hockey Road to Paris 2024 Qualifier saw them face Southern African rivals Zimbabwe. For South Africa it was a special moment for both Aphiwe Dimba and Paris-Gail Isaacs who earned their first international test caps, a wonderful moment for both the players and their families. The South African women gave them a performance to remember as...