Afrika unveils Bok Women’s Sevens squad for South America
SQUAD ANNOUNCEMENT: Maceala Samboya and Shanidiné Bezuidenhout could make their Springbok Women’s Sevens debuts later this month after coach Cecil Afrika named a 14-player squad for the final HSBC SVNS 2 tournaments in Uruguay and Brazil.
The tournaments will be played in Montevideo (March 21-22) and São Paulo (March 28-29).
Afrika also recalled the experienced Catha Jacobs, who made her debut in 2019, to the squad, which Nadine Roos will captain. Eleven players who played in Kenya last month, where they won four of five matches, have been recalled, while the injured Leigh Fortuin is the only player from the event in Nairobi who is not involved again.
Jacobs last played in the 2019 HSBC SVNS Cape Town and has since amassed 26 Test caps for the Springbok Women, including Women’s Rugby World Cup appearances in New Zealand (2022) and England (2025), and played for the Golden Lions Women in the Pick n Pay Women’s Super League 1 before being invited to the final training camp and now travelling squad.
Samboya also represented the Fifteens team in England and joined the training squad after the RWC last year. A knee injury hampered her progress, but she has recovered and is set for her international sevens debut.
Bezuidenhout not only holds a postgraduate certificate in education (with distinction) from Stellenbosch University, but she also claimed gold with the university in netball and rugby. She was a member of the squads that won the Varsity Netball title in 2022 and the FNB Varsity Cup Women’s rugby competition in April 2025.
She has been part of the Springbok Women’s Sevens training squad since last year and was a member of the Bok Women’s Sevens ‘A’ squad that played in the International Invitational tournament in Dubai in December.
Afrika said he is excited about the potential contributions that the trio can bring to his squad.
“Catha is physical and has a good presence on the field, while Maceala is a very special player, very elusive with fast feet,” said Afrika.
“Shanidiné is new to sevens rugby, but she is a quick learner and has very good skills carried over from her netball days. They slotted in well with the rest of the squad, and I think we have a good and balanced team travelling.”
Afrika said that although a good foundation was laid in Kenya, all of Argentina, Brazil, Spain, and China will come back stronger and wiser.
“We looked at areas of improvement and worked on those,” he said. “Our restarts were poor in Kenya, and we did not finish enough opportunities when we were on the attack in our opponents’ half.”
South Africa opens its campaign against Spain, with China and Brazil as the other opponents on day one. They will face Kenya and Argentina on the second day in Montevideo.
“We also opened against Spain in Kenya, and our attitude will be the same – we will focus on them and make sure we get the good start we want,” said Afrika.
The Springbok Women’s Sevens will arrive in South America placed second on the log, with the top four sides qualifying for the HSBC SVNS World Championship events in Hong Kong (April 17-19), Valladolid (May 29-31), and Bordeaux (June 5-7).
Bok Women’s Sevens fixtures (SA times):
Saturday, March 21
16.23: Spain
18.46: China
21.36: Brazil
Sunday, March 22
19.23: Kenya
22.39: Argentina
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 (uncapped)
#20 Catha Jacobs
#23 Ayanda Malinga
#26 Lerato Makua
#27 Maceala Samboya (uncapped)
#28 Shannon-Lee Windvogel
