South Africa’s four Vodacom United Rugby Championship teams are preparing for a Welsh invasion and will have everything to play for this weekend as the cross-hemisphere spectacle reaches the penultimate pool round.
The Springbok Women’s Sevens’ inability to remain composed in pressure moments proved to be their biggest drawback in a season where they claimed two tournament titles and scored some impressive wins.
Junior Springbok coach Kevin Foote credited Australia for staying in the fight and producing a gutsy second half performance to edge South Africa in their second round Under-20 Rugby Championship clash at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Gqeberha.
Springbok Sevens head coach Philip Snyman heaped praise on his squad after a commanding weekend of sevens rugby displayed at the HSBC SVNS World Championship in Los Angeles, with the Blitzboks finishing as the only undefeated side and crowned winners on Sunday.
A group of 38 players assembled in Cape Town on Sunday for the next phase of the Springbok Women’s Rugby World Cup preparations, with the Rugby Africa Women’s Cup in Madagascar in early June the first assignment for the group, followed by Test matches against Canada a month later.
The race for those coveted four semi-final spots of the SA Cup – and with that qualification to the Carling Currie Cup Premier Division – is going down to the wire for the Sanlam Boland Kavaliers, NovaVit Griffons and Valke after the penultimate round was completed over the weekend.
Springbok captain Siya Kolisi shared some inspiring words with the future stars of South African rugby when he visited the Junior Springboks at their training session on the B-field of the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Gqeberha.
Rugby history will be rewritten when the Springboks launch their 2025 season against the Barbarians at the DHL Stadium in Cape Town on Saturday 28 June – the first time the famous international invitational outfit will be in action on South African soil.
The California dream might be over before it began for the Springbok Women's Sevens team, but they are still determined to play the hand that was dealt to them this weekend at the HSBC SVNS Play-off tournament at Dignity Health Sports Park in Los Angeles.
It will be a tournament with no second chances, of clinical execution and most importantly, an opportunity where the Springbok Sevens team can deliver a performance that will do their season justice.