Springbok Sevens captain Siviwe Soyizwapi can’t be blamed for feeling like a tourist guide in Los Angeles this week.
A long haul flight on your way to a Test debut can feel like it lasts forever, especially if that first appearance for your country was the a culmination of a lifetime of hard work and sacrifices, just ask Travis Ismaiel.
EPCR has confirmed the kick-off times of the 2023 EPCR Challenge Cup and Heineken Champions Cup finals which will take place at Dublin’s Aviva Stadium on Friday 19 May and Saturday 20 May respectively.
The DHL Stormers and Cell C Sharks strengthened their chances of favourable Vodacom United Rugby Championship playoff fixtures as they defeated the Vodacom Bulls and Emirates Lions respectively in a crucial round of local derbies on Saturday.
The Springbok coaches, management and a group of 14 players will kick off the 2023 season with a three-week physical and rugby development camp in Cape Town – from Sunday until Friday, 10 March – in the first team activity of the year as the side gear up for the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France in September and October.
Schalk Brits is preparing for what he believes is going to be “a humdinger” of a North versus South Derby between the Vodacom Bulls and DHL Stormers at Loftus Versfeld this Saturday, and one where he believes past results will count for nothing.
Travis Ismaiel will complete a national team trifecta at the HSBC LA Sevens next weekend after being named in the Springbok Sevens squad that will contest the North American leg of the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series in the USA and Canada later this month.
The Cell C Sharks team named to take on the Emirates Lions in Johannesburg in this weekend’s return leg Vodacom United Rugby Championship has been bolstered by the return of a number of players.
The stakes will be sky-high for all four South African teams this weekend as a full round of Vodacom United Rugby Championship action returns and sides turn their attention on the race to the playoffs, with the Grand Final happening in exactly 100 days.
Careers end. Records are broken. Trophies gather dust. Teammates go their own way. And then all you are left with is the memories. Great memories of a full career. But if you grew up in the Western Cape, there is one memory you carry with you beyond just your career, and when it started and ended. You’ve had it with you since you were a boy running around barefoot with a rugby ball and dreaming the biggest dreams. North versus South. By Jean de Villiers, former DHL Stormers and Springbok captain.