Cecil Afrika: Bok Women's Sevens squad heading to Spain with renewed belief

Afrika named a more settled squad for the tournaments in Spain and France, where the Bok Women will be aiming for better showings after finishing last in the opening event in Hong Kong last month.

A spate of injuries disrupted preparations last time around, but Afrika believes the additional preparation time and improved squad stability will benefit the team ahead of the tournaments in Valladolid and Bordeaux.

Vianca Boer returns to the squad, adding versatility to the group, while Patience Mokone has also been included to provide additional pace and attacking threat.

Although neither player has previous top-tier sevens experience, Afrika said their performances in SVNS 2 and the Challenger Series have shown they are capable of stepping up at the higher level.

"There is a big difference between our preparation for Hong Kong, where we had to replace four injured players and blood some youngsters in the week before departure and this squad of 14 players travelling," said Afrika.

"We had a very good month of preparation and from our review sessions following Hong Kong, I could see the confidence and belief in the squad growing as we get ready to face Australia, USA and Fiji in our pool.

"We are still going there to get into the knock-out stages and to improve our overall ranking and this team has the ability to deliver."

Afrika lamented the loss of Asisipho Plaatjies, who ruptured her Achilles in Hong Kong, an injury that will keep her out of the game for the rest of the year: "We wish her a speedy rehabilitation and recovery, she had an operation a couple of weeks back."

Plaatjies joins Nadine Roos, Liske Lategan, Simamkele Namba and Shannon-Lee Windvogel on the 2026 injury list.

"Vianca returns after an injury in SVNS 3 and while she has not played in a while, her learning curve remains very good," the SA coach said.

"The intensity will be a challenge, but I have more than enough confidence in her contributions, while Patience showed in SVNS 2 that she can score tries and impact results."

The review sessions following the Hong Kong tournament, where the team scored a famous win over Great Britain, was positive and contributed to their upbeat mindset to their Pool B matches.

"We saw many good things in those reviews, and we could apply those learnings to our training sessions," said Afrika. "We will have to be ruthless in our approach and added that element to our preparation."

The squad will leave for Spain on Sunday.

South Africa's Pool B fixtures

Friday 29 May

10:22 - USA

14:29 - Australia

Saturday 30 May

10:00 - Fiji

Springbok Women's Sevens

Patience Mokone, Zintle Mpupha, Maria Tshiremba, Byrhandre Dolf, Vianca Boer, Shiniqwa Lamprecht, Shanidine Bezuidenhout, Catha Jacobs, Jane Mulder, Owami Mohuli, Ayanda Malinga, Lerato Makua, Maceala Samboya, Eloise Webb.

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