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IOL News
5 days ago
- Sport
- IOL News
Springbok Women's squad announced for Canada Test ahead of Rugby World Cup
Regular Springbok Women's captain Nolusindiso Booi is among the 16 forwards who have been named in the initial 26-player squad to face Canada in next weekend's Test match at Loftus. The Springbok Women are under no illusions about the challenge that awaits them when they take on the in-form Canada, the world No 2, at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria on Saturday next week, as they step up preparations for the Rugby World Cup. A number of players who have been named in the initial squad of 26 will still have vivid memories of the last time the two teams met in 2023. Canada humbled the Springbok Women 66-7 in that Test, on March 25, 2023 in Madrid, Spain. The South Africans will be keen to set the record straight on home soil. History, and recent form, suggest that won't be an easy task, however. The Springbok team's performance coach, Swys de Bruin, said they are under no illusions about the challenge ahead as Canada achieved stunning success in the recent Pacific Four tournament. They beat Australia 45-7 in Brisbane, drew 27-27 with New Zealand in Christchurch, and beat the USA 26-14 in Kansas City. 'They are second in the world, and we are ranked twelfth, so the gap is massive, and we are certainly huge underdogs,' said De Bruin. 'But we wanted to be tested against a top side before the Rugby World Cup and this is it. We are hoping to be tested physically and tactically by Canada and our focus will be on how to respond to those challenges.' The squad of 26 players named for the first Test of the two-match series will assemble in Johannesburg on Sunday. Regular captain Nolusindiso Booi, the most-capped Springbok Women's Test player, is among the 16 forwards De Bruin named in the squad. The match 23 for the first Test will be announced on Thursday next. The squad is laden with experience. Only three of the forwards named – Nombuyekezo Mdliki, Luchell Hanekom and Danelle Lochner – did not represent South Africa at the previous Rugby World Cup in New Zealand. Nine of the 10 backs named also travelled to New Zealand three years ago, with only Byrhandrè Dolf not involved in the showpiece. However, Dolf has played in all 20 Tests that the Springbok Women have played since. It is a full-circle moment for the exciting backline player, who made her debut in the clash against Canada in 2023.
Daily Maverick
24-04-2025
- Sport
- Daily Maverick
Nolusindiso Booi has paved the way for the next generation of Bok Women
The Springbok Women skipper has travelled a long road to the top and will conclude her journey at rugby's pinnacle later this year. It took Nolusindiso Booi less than a year to go from picking up a rugby ball for the first time to playing provincial rugby. And four years after learning to catch and pass she made her debut for the national team. Her rapid rise speaks to both the incredible talent of the now skipper as well as the lack of depth, at the time, of the Springbok Women. Almost exactly 15 years since her debut, Booi earned her 50th cap for the Bok Women in the side's 48-26 drubbing of Spain last weekend. In the process she became the first Springbok Woman player to reach the milestone. Booi's debut match, against Kazakhstan at the Al Ain Rugby Club in Dubai in 2010, was at a time when interest in the women's game was nearly nonexistent in South Africa. Her career would include the team performances being so dire that SA Rugby would withdraw the national team from international rugby. And at the tail end of Booi's career the Bok team have never been better and have never had more support. Booi has seen and lived through it all, while buckling down in the middle of the scrum and jumping highest in the lineout while leading her side with the flag of the country on her chest. While the Springbok Women's growth, on the field and commercially, is trending upward, Booi won't be there when they reach their pinnacle, since the 39-year-old plans to hang up her boots at the conclusion of the Rugby World Cup in August and September. From Xesi to the Boks Her journey with the oval ball started as a 20-year-old at the University of Fort Hare in Alice in the Eastern Cape. She was walking between classes when one of the rugby coaches spotted her lanky figure and knew she would be a perfect fit for the university's second row. But the physical game was initially unfamiliar to Booi who had grown up playing cricket in the streets of her village of Trust Three in the small town of Xesi with her male family members. 'I never had any idea what rugby was because back in my village we only knew cricket,' Booi told Daily Maverick. 'Everyone was playing cricket, like my uncles and everyone and my brothers were involved in cricket. I grew up in that kind of environment and I started to fall in love with cricket.' But the opportunities that arose from playing rugby gripped Booi immediately. 'From the first time that I played the first game I was sure that this is what I want to do,' she said. 'It was fun for me because there was a lot of travelling, something that I was not used to because I grew up in a village and I never got a chance to travel from province to province. 'When I saw that there are people that are playing for the national team, my interests got bigger. I wanted to play for the national team as well.' Booi's transition into the sport was made easier by her athleticism built from other sports she played growing up. Outside of the hand-eye coordination from playing cricket, she was also a sprinter and did long jump in high school. Combined with her tall frame, this made her the perfect candidate for the No 5 jersey in the national team. A jersey she has held for the better part of 15 years, along with captaining the team. World Cup goals With a lack of real financial investment in the Springbok Women, the side struggled on the international stage, winning only one group-stage match across both the 2010 and 2014 Rugby World Cups – in which Booi played – forcing SA Rugby to rethink the side. After the 2014 World Cup SA Rugby withdrew the national women's team from international rugby, instead opting to focus on grassroots development to ensure the team would be more competitive when they rejoined. While it meant that the women's rugby system has improved in the country, it has also meant that Booi missed the opportunity to add several more national team caps to her name as well as missing the 2017 World Cup during her prime rugby-playing days in her late twenties. The Boks returned to the biggest women's rugby tournament in 2022 but again failed to win a match. Since then, however, investment in the game has increased significantly, including hiring one of the country's brightest rugby minds, Swys de Bruin, as coach. Young talent has also been unearthed within the side, with Booi's lock-forward partner, Vainah Ubisi, being one of the breakthrough players for the team in 2024. Their results have been on an upward trajectory too, which includes running the much higher-rated Australia (26-33) and Italy (19-23) extremely close in the same year. South Africa are in a group with France, Italy and Brazil at this year's World Cup. Two out of three wins would see them reach the knockout stage for the first time. 'Everyone that is going to the World Cup, their aim is to win the World Cup, but with us we're just taking baby steps,' skipper Booi said. The talk out of the Bok Women camp is that the quarterfinals are the big goal for the side. 'When you reach those quarters and you play there, you don't know what might happen next,' Booi added. 'If you win, you go through.'
