PREVIEW: After Olympic heartbreak, this Springbok is chasing redemption

Professional sport can be unforgiving, and few know that better than dual Springbok international Eloise Webb.

The 30-year-old has experienced the highest highs and some crushing disappointments during a career that has spanned both fifteens and sevens.

She represented South Africa at two Rugby World Cup Sevens tournaments and two Women’s Rugby World Cups, yet also endured the heartbreak of missing out on the Olympic Games after helping the Springbok Women’s Sevens qualify for Tokyo and featuring prominently during the 2024 HSBC SVNS campaign.

After that disappointment, Webb believed her Sevens chapter was over.

Her focus had shifted firmly to fifteens, where she had become a key member of Swys de Bruin’s Springbok Women’s squad and was preparing for a landmark season that includes a historic home Test against New Zealand’s Black Ferns later this year.

Then the call came.

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An injury crisis had ripped through the Springbok Women’s Sevens squad just as they entered the most important stretch of their season, with World Championship tournaments in Hong Kong, Valladolid and Bordeaux determining whether South Africa could regain core status on the HSBC SVNS circuit.

Webb was asked to help.

Her initial reaction was no.

“The call was unexpected, and my immediate instinct was to opt out,” Webb admitted from Bordeaux.

Not only was she carrying the emotional scars of her Olympic disappointment, but she also knew exactly what returning to sevens would demand physically.

“I was training for a season of fifteens, and to suddenly be called into a sevens regime was not what I anticipated. The load on your body is just so much different.”

Yet the opportunity to represent South Africa once again proved impossible to ignore.

“Playing for your country remains the biggest honour and service.”

Webb joined the squad shortly before their departure to Hong Kong and immediately made an impact, helping create the match-winning try against Great Britain.

Last weekend in Valladolid, she produced one of the moments of the tournament, stepping past defenders on a brilliant 40-metre run to score against Australia.

More importantly, she has rediscovered her love for the shortened format.

“As a team, we really played for each other and for me, those bad memories of not being wanted washed away,” she said.

Now the BlitzBok Women head into a decisive weekend in Bordeaux knowing they face a daunting challenge against hosts France, New Zealand and Argentina.

But Webb believes the squad is ready.

“We want to be back on the circuit and will leave nothing out there. Nothing.”

For a player who thought her Sevens story had ended, Bordeaux offers one more chance to write a different ending.

Springbok Women’s Sevens squad: Patience Mokone, Zintle Mpupha (captain), Maria Tshiremba, Byrhandré Dolf, Vianca Boer, Shiniqwa Lamprecht, Catha Jacobs,  Jané Mulder,  Owami Mohuli, Ayanda Malinga,  Lerato Makua, Maceala Samboya, Eloise Webb

Fixtures:

(Kick-off is local time: GMT +2 hours)

Friday, June 5

Canada v Spain (11.20)
USA v Great Britain (11.42)
Japan v Fiji (12.04)
Australia v Brazil (12.26)
France v South Africa (12.48)
New Zealand v Argentina (13.10)
Canada v Great Britain (16.45)
USA v Spain (17.07)
Japan v Brazil (17.29)
Australia v Fiji (17.51)
New Zealand v South Africa (18.30)
France v Argentina (18.35)

Saturday, June 6

Spain v Great Britain (12.48)
USA v Canada (13.10)
Fiji v Brazil (13.32)
Australia v Japan (13.54)
South Africa v Argentina (14.16)
New Zealand v France (14.38)