Vodacom Bulls front rower, Jan-Hendrik Wessels has extended his stay at Loftus Versfeld to June 2026. The 23-year-old hooker is the latest player to commit their long-term future to the Tshwane-based outfit and has earned the respect of everyone in the capital, since making his senior debut in 2020. Wessels began his Vodacom Bulls career at under-20 and has since gone on to make 64 franchise appearances, 59 of which have been in senior competitions. Wessels attributes his decision to extend was based on his playing development and opportunity to compete alongside top players. “I have enjoyed ..read more

The Vodacom Bulls have acquired the services of utility back Boeta Chamberlain on an initial two-year deal from coastal outfit, the Hollywoodbets Sharks. The 25-year-old Paarl Boys’ High alumni will call the capital his home until June 2026. Chamberlain has featured in 51 franchise matches for the Durban-based side, 39 of which have been in the Vodacom United Rugby Championship where he has scored 158 points with 15 of those coming from the three tries the creative midfielder has dotted down. Director of rugby, Jake White says acquiring versatile players is key to having squad balance. “We ha ..read more

When the Junior Springboks open their Under-20 Rugby Championship campaign against New Zealand at the Sunshine Coast Stadium on Thursday, they will have the benefit of calling on the calmness of towering lock JF van Heerden. The lineout operator is one of only a handful players in the Junior Bok squad who has experience of playing at international level, having played a starring role in Bafana Nhleko’s squad that finished third at the World Rugby U20 Championship in Cape Town last year. With most of the Junior Bok squad entering unchartered waters when they face New Zealand, Australia and Arg ..read more

The Vodacom Bulls and DHL Stormers kept alive their aspirations to host Vodacom United Rugby Championship playoffs in a largely rewarding weekend for the South African teams, with the only blemish being the Emirates Lions’ defeat against defending champions, Munster. The Hollywoodbets Sharks kicked off the action on Friday night where they held their nerve in a tight finish against the Scarlets in Llanelli for a bonus-point 32-27 victory, with Werner Kok earning a hat-trick in his 50th game for the franchise, and on Saturday the Vodacom Bulls thumped Ospreys 61-24 in Pretoria and the DHL Stor ..read more

Sizophila Solontsi and Nomawethu Mabenge will make welcome returns to Test rugby after being named in the Springbok Women’s starting team to face Cameroon in the 2024 Rugby Africa Women’s Cup opener in Madagascar on Saturday. The pair last played together at the same venue in the same competition a year ago, where Mabenge topped the points’ scoring stakes with six tries. Samantha Els and Aliyah Tchogna-Njamen have been included in the run-on team for the first time after making their international debuts off the bench against Spain early last month, while Nomsa Mokwai will earn a first start ..read more

The exposure of playing in the HSBC SVNS 2024 season has benefitted the Springbok Women’s Sevens team tremendously and although it has not always shown in the results, the improvement of the team has been real and heartwarming. That is the view of South Africa’s Nadine Roos, one the standouts on the circuit and arguably the team’s most influential player this season. Roos is in Singapore with her rest of the squad where the seventh of eight world series tournaments will be held this weekend. Reflecting on the season, Roos said their growth as a squad since joining the series as a core team, w ..read more

The Springbok Women are well aware of the potential reward at the end of their next journey to Madagascar, but they will not make the mistake of focusing only on the ultimate prize and to then be tripped up by something unexpected because they looked too far ahead. That is the view of Bok Women scrumhalf Rumandi Potgieter, who is amongst the 28 players to leave for Madagascar on Thursday, with a Test match against Cameroon opening their Rugby Africa Women’s Cup campaign on Saturday. The winner at the end of the tournament on 12 May will not only qualify for the 2025 Rugby World Cup in England ..read more

The South African franchises will be under immense pressure to bounce back strongly from disappointing results in the Vodacom United Rugby Championship last week – apart from the Emirates Lions – as the competition reaches the fourth-last pool round and the scramble for quarter-final spots reaches boiling point. Only nine points separate the third-placed Munster and 11th placed Emirates Lions, one of four teams currently tied on 39 points along with Edinburgh, Connacht and Ulster. Fortunately for the Vodacom Bulls and Emirates Lions, all their remaining matches are in South Africa, whic ..read more

Eight Bulls Daisies players have been called up for national duty as the team assembles for a three-week assignment. Experienced Springbok Women’s players Nomawethu Mabenge, Lusanda Dumke and Sizophila Solontsi have been included in the national squad for the Rugby Africa Women’s Cup in Madagascar next month, where qualification for the 2025 Rugby World Cup in England is at stake. Springbok Women head coach Louis Koen named a squad of 28 players (16 forwards and 12 backs) to travel to Antananarivo, where South Africa will be up against Cameroon, Kenya and Madagascar for the title as champions ..read more

Speedster Maria Tshiremba will make a welcome return to the Springbok Women’s Sevens squad for next weekend’s HSBC SVNS tournament in Singapore, the seventh of eight in the 2024 season. Tshiremba, who scored four tries in as many tournaments, limped off in Vancouver and missed the next two tournaments in Los Angeles and Hong Kong, but she has now fully recovered to add punch to the South African attack. She replaces Alichia Arries on the wing in one of three changes to the side that played in Hong Kong earlier in the month. Eloise Webb, who fell ill shortly before Hong Kong and was replaced b ..read more