Women’s 15s to kick off preparations for UK Tour

Feb 27 • General News, Sevens Rugby • 1092 Views • Comments Off on Women’s 15s to kick off preparations for UK Tour

The national women’s 15s training squad will kick off their preparations for their first tour since 2014, with a four-day training camp in Cape Town from Thursday to Sunday.

A total of 46 players will assemble in the Mother City for a skills and conditioning camp, where the foundation will be laid for the UK tour, from 1 to 23 October, where the team will face the British Army before playing two matches against the England Academy team.

The training squad features 2014 Springbok Women’s players Celeste Adonis, Nolusindiso Booi, Tayla Kinsey, Thantaswa Macingwane and Fundiswa Plaatjie, and former Springbok Women’s Sevens players Nosiphiwo Goda and Unathi Mali.

Forty of the 46 players invited to the camp attended the women’s 15s camp last October, while Goda, Aphiwe Ngwevu and Simamkele Namba from Border, and KwaZulu-Natal’s Jaime Norton will make their first appearance in the group.

Plaatjie and Mali, meanwhile, will attend the camp in a different capacity this year after participating as members of the Bok Women’s Sevens squad last year.

The camp will be managed by SA Rugby’s Rugby Department.

“The objective of this training camp is to build on the first camp in October last year and to measure the progress made by the players since then,” said SA Rugby CEO Jurie Roux.

“The camp will kick off with standard medical screening and the focus on the field will be on skills and conditioning. This will be vital with a tour lined up for the end of the year, so it is important that the structures and systems are put in place.”

The women’s 15s programme was placed on hold following the 2014 Women’s World Cup to focus on developing players who are able to form a strong women’s national team.

This resulted in the establishment of eight women’s Youth Training Centres (YTCs) – housed at the Blue Bulls Limpopo, Blue Bulls, Border, Eastern Province, KwaZulu-Natal, Western Province, Griquas and South Western Districts rugby unions – where players between the ages of 14 and 18 are groomed for the demands of high-performance rugby through specialised training sessions, conditioning, nutritional programmes, and scheduled matches to expose them to competition regularly.

The YTC programme is now in its third year.

Senior Women’s training squad (in alphabetical order):

Name Province Position
Celeste Adonis Western Province Lock
Nolusindiso Booi Border Lock
Nomaphelo Dike Western Province Winger
Liyabona Dudumashe Border Prop
Lusanda Dumke Border Looseforward
Annique Geswind Western Province Hooker
Nosiphiwo Goda Border Centre
Aseza Hele Eastern Province Looseforward
Makoele Kamohlelo Free State No 8
Dludla Karthy KZN Lock
Megan Kannemeyer Western Province Fullback
Tayla Kinsey KZN Scrumhalf
Amy-Kay Klaasen Western Province Lock
Babalwa Latsha Western Province Prop
Thantaswa Macingwane Border Prop
Ncediswa Mahijani Western Province Lock
Asanda Majombozi Western Province Looseforward
Unathi Mali Eastern Province Fullback
Nthabiseng Marutla Blue Bulls Lock
Vuyolwethu Maqholo Western Province Fullback
Thandile Mazwi Western Province Flanker
Noluthando Mbambo KZN Lock
Xoliswa Mbobo Western Province Winger
Sinazo Mcatshulwa Western Province Looseforward
Siphosethu Mgaju Border Scrumhalf
Nomzamo Ngcamu KZN Scrumhalf
Nqobile Mhlangu KZN Centre
Rights Mkhari Limpopo Blue Bulls Lock
Akhona Mooi Eastern Province Prop
Lebathamang Mothumi Blue Bulls Lock
Simamkele Namba Border Fullback
Xolelwa Ncanywa Border Winger
Zinhle Ndawonde KZN Centre
Demi Nel Western Province Centre
Aphiwe Ngwevu Border Centre
Randy Nkotswana Leopards Centre
Jaime Norton KZN Hooker
Fundiswa Plaatjie Border Scrumhalf
Sarah Ramoraswi Limpopo Blue Bulls Winger
Snenhlanhla Shozi KZN Fullback
Nokubonga Siko Leopards No 8
Mellanie Smith Free State Winger
Ntsako Faith Tshauke Blue Bulls No 8
Eloise Webb Border Fullback
Alicia Willemse Western Province Scrumhalf
Nomthandazo Thandi Xwethu Western Province Hooker

 

Issued by SA Rugby Communications

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