Netball was a job, rugby became her passion
SPOTLIGHT: When Danelle Lochner found rugby, she found what was made for her, and now she is at her first World Cup doing the one thing that gives her an adrenaline rush.
The Springbok Women’s lock has just extended her stay in West London with Harlequins.
The dual-sport international – she represented South Africa in netball as well – joined Harlequins in 2023 and has gone on to establish herself as a key member of the Quins forward pack, making 25 appearances in her first two seasons at the Club.
Lochner played for the Proteas netball team in what looked like a guaranteed career, but she opted out of that sport to pursue rugby.
Now she finds herself fully immersed in the rugby environment and ready to take on the world on the biggest stage, the World Cup in England.
As South Africa gears up to face Brazil in their opening match in Northampton this weekend, Lochner reflects on the journey that brought her to this point.
“It’s also really exciting being part of it because you get to see how it changes over the years and what it could be and where it is heading. I think that’s the exciting part of being involved in this moment in time,” Lochner said.
The lock had a solid future in netball, but then rugby crossed her path and like they say, the rest is history.
“I played netball before and I think for me it’s just about the deal I made with myself, quite early on when I started playing netball professionally – if I didn’t enjoy it, I would stop and find something else in its place.
“Then netball became that for me. It started to feel like a job, and I wasn’t enjoying it anymore, and I needed to find something different. I started playing a little bit of touch rugby at a local club that was just starting out with their women’s team.
“Slowly but surely we got introduced into tackle techniques and stuff like that and I think I kind of fell in love with that because netball was a non-contact sport, as they say, but there’s quite a lot of contact in it, the only difference between that and rugby is that you can actually dish it out, you don’t just have to take it, just stand there and let somebody run into you, make you feel uncomfortable.
“So, I started playing rugby and kind of fell in love with it a lot more than I did with netball, and it brings me joy even to this day, every single time that I go out on that pitch I get so excited and this adrenaline that runs through my body is amazing.
“It is obviously an amazing opportunity, and I mean, you can’t really compare the two sports at all, it’s completely different. So, I’m just really, really excited to be here and just start this World Cup.”
Looking back at the road she has travelled to get to this point, what would she say to her young self?
“I would probably tell her that there’s a place for you somewhere, you don’t have to try and fit into somebody else’s mold of what is perfect or what is good. You just have to find that something that you are made for and go with it because you can end up being the best in that thing.”
