The Springbok Women took another positive step towards the Rugby World Cup in England as they recovered from being outplayed by New Zealand’s Black Ferns XV in the first half of their match at Athlone Stadium on Saturday, to “winning” the second half.
Junior Springbok head coach Kevin Foote credited his team’s renowned, trademark South African grit and fighting spirit for their victory over New Zealand in the World Rugby U20 Championship final in Italy.
The Junior Springboks became the third South African team to claim world champion status by outplaying New Zealand 23-15 in the World Rugby U20 Championship Final in Rovigo on Saturday night.
Ireland centurion Cian Healy and Shannon Frizell from New Zealand have been confirmed as the latest names to join up with the Barbarians when they lock horns against the Springboks in the historic Qatar Airways Cup in Cape Town at the end of the month.
At the age of 22, life was good for Lerato Makua. In 2023, she had established herself in the Springbok Women squad, playing in 10 Tests and two friendlies and representing South Africa in Wales, England, Japan, New Zealand and Madagascar, and later France.
The Barbarians have revealed three Test centurions with a combined tally of 352 caps as the first players for their squad to take on the Springboks in Cape Town next month.
The Junior Springboks fell short in their bid to capture the Under-20 Rugby Championship when they lost to New Zealand in Gqeberha, but SA U20 head coach Kevin Foote said the players can take huge positives from their courageous effort against the young Kiwis.
The Springbok Sevens team are ready to let the ‘Gino’ out of the bottle when they face Uruguay, Australia and New Zealand in their pool at the Cathay/HSBC Hong Kong Sevens, which moves to a new venue this year, the 50,000-seater Kai Tak Stadium.
David Miller was honoured after making history in the ICC Champions Trophy to secure the fastest century in the history of the tournament.
An impressive performance by Amelia Kerr guided New Zealand to their first-ever Women's T20 World Cup title after beating South Africa by 32 runs in the final in Dubai.