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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