Rugby Africa, Round One: Crucial opener for Bok Women's season

PREVIEW: The Springbok Women’s first Test of the year will lay an important marker for their season according to assistant coach Laurian Johannes-Haupt.

The Springbok Women start the defence of their Rugby Africa Women’s Cup title with a fixture against Madagascar at the RFUEA Grounds in Nairobi, Kenya on Saturday.

Saturday’s encounter the first of 12 internationals, including a series against USA and Black Ferns, planned for the year.

“It is such an exciting time for the Springbok Women and our women’s game, and we want to make the best of these opportunities,” said Johannes-Haupt.

“The three Tests in the Africa Cup allow us to introduce new players to the rigours of Test rugby, while also rewarding those who excelled in our pathways back home, like the Pick n Pay Women’s Super League.”

The squad named for the opening match will introduce six new players to the demands of Test rugby, with Western Province No 8, Logan Welman the only uncapped player in the starting team, which will be captained by Anathi Qolo for a fourth time in her career.

Thandile Mazwi (prop) and Ntsako Mbombi (flanker) will be called upon to boost the pack during the match, while at the back, Insaaf Levy, Naima Hlatshwayo and Thami Yeko, are all expected to come off the bench for a first Test cap.

Johannes-Haupt, a former Junior Springbok Women head coach, was very pleased with the number of younger players included on this trip, suggesting the strong pathway route to national honours are bearing fruit.

“It is great to see how many players that came through the Youth Training Centres, the national age group weeks and our Under-20s are now making the step-up into the senior ranks,” she said.

“Those who excelled in the Super League were also rewarded with call-ups and I expect strong performances from them.”

Johannes-Haupt and fellow assistant coach, Franzel September, fine-tuned their preparations with two main goals – to continue with the established Springbok Women blueprint of a very strong first phase foundation, but also giving the backline players the opportunity to express themselves on this platform.

“We did prepare for Madagascar in particular, but we also want our identity as a team to be moulded, as this is only the first of many big games we will play this year,” she said.

“Madagascar traditionally love moving the ball around and play side to side in a fast offload game, whereas we will be looking to play at our pace and use our set piece to dominate. That said, we want our backs to play as well, there are many exciting players that can do wonders with ball in hand.”

Meanwhile, Uganda women’s national rugby union team, like in 2025, are the fourth side in this year’s tournament.

They finished third out of four in Antananarivo a year ago, with their 24-20 win over hosts Madagascar sandwiched between heavy defeats by South Africa and Kenya.

The Lady Cranes played in the 2025 top-tier competition following their promotion from Rugby Africa Women’s Cup Division One, and they are determined to avoid relegation and remain in the topflight.

“Last year, we were promoted to the top tier after beating Ivory Coast, Zimbabwe, and Tunisia,” assistant coach Charles Onen told Ugandan reporters.

“It was a very good feeling being back in the top tier. This is where Uganda is supposed to be playing. Here is where you gauge yourself against the top-performing countries like Kenya, South Africa, and, currently, Madagascar.”

It is a high-stakes tournament for the lower-ranked sides in Nairobi. A slip-up could see Tunisia take the bottom team’s place for 2027, with the North Africans having recently gained promotion to the Performance Division for next year.

“With the four teams, this time round it is different from last year because last year we just had a go from the Division One, but this time there is going to be relegation,” Onen acknowledged.

“As we speak, Tunisia qualified for the top division. Whoever comes fourth in this competition will be relegated.

“That is something we need to look at as a team because we are going to this competition first of all to make sure we stay in the top division, and then we won one game last year, so this time we are pushing to see how many games we can win.”

Fixtures:

Saturday, May 23

Springbok Women v Madagascar

Kick-off: 14.00 (11.00 GMT; 13.00 SA Time)

Referee: Precious Pazani (Zimbabwe)

Kenya v Uganda

Kick-off: 16.00 (13.00 GMT)

Additional sources: SA Rugby & Rugby Africa