Springbok Women resume World Cup preparations
· Springbok Women’s training squad gathers in camp
· Women’s Interprovincial squad selected to face Bok Women in a warm-up match
The Springbok Women will resume their preparations for the IRB Women’s Rugby World Cup and their warm-up tour to London and France on Wednesday with a four-day training camp in Cape Town.
A training squad of 24 players, which excludes the Springbok Women’s Sevens players who are currently in Amsterdam preparing for the IRB Women’s Sevens World Series on Friday and Saturday, will assemble at their base in Cape Town on Wednesday.
The new faces in the Springbok Women’s training group are Sesethu Kobese (Eastern Province), Ntombifuthi Sibiloane (Pumas) and Haroline Rhodes (SWD), while Lusanda Mtiya (KwaZulu-Natal) returns after last featuring in the initial Springbok Women’s training group named in January. Injured Springbok Women’s Sevens star Phumeza Gadu and Nomsa Mokwai, who was excluded from the Amsterdam training group, were also named in the squad.
A Springbok Women’s squad will be selected in the next few weeks to travel to London on June 25, 2014, for two warm-up matches against the Nomads, followed by a trip to France for a match against World Cup hosts and pool contenders France on July 4, in preparation for the international showpiece outside of Paris from August 1 to 17.
The national training squad will participate in a series of field training sessions over the next few days under the guidance of Springbok Women’s head coach Lawrence Sephaka and the SARU Mobi-Unit before playing against a SARU Women’s Interprovincial squad at DHL Newlands on Saturday in a curtain raiser to the DHL Stormers’ Vodacom Super Rugby clash against the Force. The match will take place at 14h30 on Saturday.
“We made a commitment last year when we qualified for the IRB Women’s Rugby World Cup that we will do everything possible to ensure that the players are well prepared for the tournament, and these camps play an important role in this process,” said SARU’s GM of High Performance Rassie Erasmus. “The players have been training hard in the last few months with the satellite coaches in their respective provinces, but it is vital that they have the opportunity to gel as a unit before the World Cup. The series of warm-up matches will be equally important as it will offer the coaches an opportunity to see the team in action, while also offering the players an opportunity to prepare mentally for the big stadiums and pressure situations they are expected to face at the World Cup.”
A separate SARU Women’s Interprovincial squad of 22 players was also named and will train on their own in the next few days.
The Women’s Interprovincial squad includes players who have impressed in the first two rounds of the SARU Women’s Interprovincial Series. Zandile Nojoko (Eastern Province) and Amanda Tshidi (Border), however, featured in the Springbok Women’s January training camp.
The Blue Bulls Rugby Union were the largest contributors to this squad with six players, while there were four each from Border and the Western Province rugby unions and three from Eastern Province, which made up the bulk of the squad.
Springbok Women’s training squad: (alphabetical order)
Forwards: Celeste Adonis (Western Province), Nolusindiso Booi (Border), Nomathamsanqa Faleni (Eastern Province), Laurian Johannes (Western Province), Portia Jonga (Eastern Province), Sesethu Kobese (Eastern Province), Thantaswa Macingwane (Border), Vuyokazi Mbonda (Western Province), Andrea Mentoor (Western Province), Nomsa Mokwai (Leopards), Nwabisa Ngxatu (Border), Asithandile Ntoyanto (Border), Denita Wentzel (Western Province), Mandisa Williams (Border).
Backs: Siviwe Basweni (Border), Phumeza Gadu (Eastern Province), Natasha Hofmeester (Western Province), Tayla Kinsey (KZN), Benele Makwezela (Western Province), Lusanda Mtiya (KZN), Haroline Rhodes (SWD), Ntombifuthi (Linah) Sibiloane (Pumas), Ziyanda Tywaleni (Border), Shona-Leah Weston (Blue Bulls).
Women’s Interprovincial squad:
Forwards: Janine Botha (Blue Bulls), Mymoena Gamiet (Western Province), Nombasa Hagile (Border), Charmaine Kayser (Western Province), Estha Mahlangu (Pumas), Khayalethu Mambalu (Eastern Province), Katlego Moremi (Blue Bulls), Nqabakazi Nqoro (KZN), Faith Tshauke (Blue Bulls), Amanda Tshidi (Border), Simone Vosloo (Blue Bulls).
Backs: Atheana Botha (SWD), Cindy Cant (Blue Bulls), Lusanda Dumke (Border), Abigail Jantjies (Western Province), Veronica Malantswane (Blue Bulls), Nqobile Mhlangu (KZN), Xoliswa Mbobo (Western Province), Zandile Nojoko (Eastern Province), Siduka Noluvuyo (Border), Siphosethu Tshingana (Eastern Province), Nonhlanhla Ntambo (Pumas).
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