The big difference between Hong Kong and Valladolid for Bok Women
SQUAD ANNOUNCEMENT: The Springbok Women’s Sevens squad named for the second leg of the HSBC SVNS World Championship has a far more settled look, and with additional preparation time under their belts, head coach Cecil Afrika is confident his side can produce a much-improved performance next weekend at Estadio José Zorrilla in Valladolid.
South Africa were hit by a wave of injuries ahead of the opening leg of the World Championship in Hong Kong last month and, with limited time to regroup, finished 12th in the 12-team tournament. However, Afrika believes his squad is now better placed to challenge in northern Spain before travelling to Bordeaux for the final stop of the season.
The return of Vianca Boer adds valuable versatility to the squad, while the inclusion of Patience Mokone provides extra pace and a proven try-scoring threat for the South Africans.
Neither of the two have experienced top tier sevens rugby before, but Afrika is confident that their exploits in SVNS 2 and the Challenger Series will be helpful in Europe.
“There is a big difference between our preparation for Hong Kong, where we had to replace four injured players and blood some youngsters in the week before departure and this squad of 14 players travelling,” said Afrika.
“We had a very good month of preparation and from our review sessions following Hong Kong, I could see the confidence and belief in the squad growing as we get ready to face Australia, USA and Fiji in our pool.
“We are still going there to get into the knock-out stages and to improve our overall ranking and this team has the ability to deliver.”
Afrika lamented the loss of Asisipho Plaatjies, who ruptured her Achilles in Hong Kong, an injury that will keep her out of the game for the rest of the year: “We wish her a speedy rehabilitation and recovery, she had an operation a couple of weeks back.”
Plaatjies joins Nadine Roos, Liske Lategan, Simamkele Namba and Shannon-Lee Windvogel on the 2026 injury list.
“Vianca returns after an injury in SVNS 3 and while she has not played in a while, her learning curve remains very good,” the SA coach said.
“The intensity will be a challenge, but I have more than enough confidence in her contributions, while Patience showed in SVNS 2 that she can score tries and impact results.”
The review sessions following the Hong Kong tournament, where the team scored a famous win over Great Britain, was positive and contributed to their upbeat mindset to their Pool B matches.
“We saw many good things in those reviews, and we could apply those learnings to our training sessions,” said Afrika. “We will have to be ruthless in our approach and added that element to our preparation.”
The squad will leave for Spain on Sunday.
South Africa’s Pool B fixtures (SA times, all matches live on SuperSport):
Friday, May 29:
10.22: USA
14.29: Australia
Saturday, May 30:
10.00: Fiji
Springbok Women’s Sevens squad (with HSBC SVNS stats):
#3 Patience Mokone – uncapped
#4 Zintle Mpupha (captain) – 13 tournaments, 65 points (13 tries)
#7 Maria Tshiremba – 7 tournaments, 70 points (14 tries)
#10 Byrhandré Dolf – 4 tournaments, 8 points (4 conversions)
#15 Vianca Boer – uncapped
#16 Shiniqwa Lamprecht – 9 tournaments, 0 points
#19 Shanidiné Bezuidenhout – 1 tournament, 5 points (1 try)
#20 Catha Jacobs – 2 tournaments, 0 points
#21 Jané Mulder – 1 tournament, 0 points
#22 Owami Mohuli – 1 tournament, 0 points
#23 Ayanda Malinga – 9 tournaments, 70 points (14 tries)
#26 Lerato Makua – 2 tournaments, 5 points (one try)
#27 Maceala Samboya – 1 tournament, 0 points
#30 Eloise Webb – 10 tournaments, 7 points (1 try, 1 conversion)
