The ER nurse on the cusp of #RWC2025

SPOTLIGHT: Whether she is resuscitating a patient in the Emergency Room or jumping in the line-out for South Africa, Nomsa Mokwai is focused on teamwork to make it happen.

The Springbok Women are preparing to defend their Africa Cup title in Madagascar next month and have been training at Redhill School in Sandton for the past week.

For one of them, juggling work-life and being a professional rugby player is a bit more challenging.

This is not the Springbok lock’s first rodeo, but this time round, a spot in the World Cup squad is up for grabs, and she is leaving nothing to chance.

The registered nurse has four Test caps to her name, but the world showpiece has eluded her up to now.

She admits that juggling a full-time job at the Western Cape Government Hospital in Cape Town and representing her country on the rugby field has been tough, but she is fully committed to both.

When Mokwai made her Test debut – at the 2019 World Cup qualifying tournament in Kempton Park – she had already played for the Springbok Women’s Sevens team.

She came off the bench against Madagascar and Kenya in the African tournament, but made her first start against Spain in Port Elizabeth, when the European side toured South Africa a couple of months later.

Post-COVID, she made a solitary appearance off the bench against Namibia in Cape Town in 2022, again in the Africa Cup.

During the team’s training sessions this week, Mokwai joined the team later than the rest, coming off another brutal night shift in the Emergency Ward.

But having her eyes firmly focused on England 2025 is what drives this determined woman daily.

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“I really want to represent the Springbok Women at the World Cup, that is something I have always dreamt about,” said Mokwai, a versatile forward who can play lock or flanker.

“I have been knocking on the World Cup door multiple times. I played for South Africa at the Under-20 level, and even then, I was invited to train with the seniors.

“And still the door didn’t open. I have been knocking. Now is the time for me to open the door.”

For Mokwai, her work as a nurse combines perfectly with being a rugby player, even though it takes a lot out of her.

“Everything I do is about teamwork. No matter how smart you are, you can’t do it without your team members.

“In my nursing profession, when we are doing resuscitation, you’ve got to have someone working on the airway, the breathing. You’ve got to have somebody doing the circulation and defibrillation.

“You cannot do that on your own. That teaches me about rugby. Regardless of my talent, I need my teammates to put in the effort and work together,” she explains, always with a friendly smile on her face.

Nomsa Mokwai doing strength training at the Bok Women’s Sevens afternoon gym session @Springboks pic.twitter.com/0OAZf3G0wg

— SA Women’s Rugby (@WomenBoks) November 21, 2016

For Mokwai, going to Madagascar is another opportunity to chip away at the closed door.

“I was glad and grateful that I was selected to go to Madagascar. To have more gametime and prove to the coaches that I can do it, and measure myself to see if I am there yet.

“Just to know what my work-ons are and what I am actually good at.”

Mokwai has been an advocate for young women to show them that nothing is impossible. She even had to convince her mother that it is okay for girls to play the game they love and that they don’t have to watch from the sidelines, but can take part as well.

“I play rugby to also prove to girls that they can do it. I grew up thinking that girls have to be models, play netball, and look nice.

“They can’t do what boys do. I had to do it to prove to myself and the world that girls can play rugby.”

Rugby Africa Women’s Cup fixtures (SA times, all matches at Stade Makis, Antananarivo):
June 7: Uganda (12.00)
June 11: Kenya (12.00)
June 15: Madagascar (14.00)