PREVIEW, ROUND ONE: Women’s rugby will explode into action this weekend with the first round of the 2025 Women’s Premier Division kick-starting a massive year for the sport, culminating in the World Cup in England in August and September.
The early start to SA Rugby’s domestic competition is influenced by the England showpiece, with a single round of matches getting the country’s leading players rugby ready for the season ahead. The seven weekends of league action will culminate in the Final, scheduled for 29 March.
The Bulls Daisies will start the year as hot favourites following consecutive victories in the competition and a rash of Springbok Women players donning the blue jersey again this year.
Last year’s runners-up, Western Province, should again be a force as will the Boland Dames, while the Golden Lions Women are due a solid season.
Their respective coaches, Hayden Groepes (Daisies), Stanley Raubenheimer (WP), Thomas Chowles (Boland) and Timmy Goodwin (Lions) are settled in their roles and had time to plan their campaigns.
There are four new head coaches in this year’s tournament, with Bongani Nogilana (Border Ladies), Con van Rooyen (EP Queens), Anchin Klein (Free State Women) and Jason Hector (Sharks Women) involved in this capacity for the first time, and they will feel the pressures of the top league from the start.
Boland Dames will host the opening match in Wellington, welcoming Golden Lions Women in an encounter that should set a good standard for the competition.
The home side will have Aseza Hele available for the whole campaign after she played in England for a large part of the 2024 season, while former Maties pivot Lara Schats is a welcome addition to the Dames.
The visitors lured scrumhalf Rumandi Potgieter across the Jukskei River, with the former Daisies stalwart a potential game changer for the Lions.
Nogilana and Hector will have their first matches in charge at Baysville High School in East London in an East Coast derby, with the home team starting as early favourites.
The visitors from KZN will be tested by the hard running of Aphiwe Ngwevu in the Ladies’ midfield, while the Sharks team will rely on their experienced halfbacks, Tayla Kinsey and Mary Zulu, to steer them through troubled waters.
The Daisies accumulated 194 points and conceded only seven in their two clashes against the EP Queens last season and the host team will have to work very hard to change that scoring imbalance when they clash at the Wolfson Stadium in Nelson Mandela Bay.
The last match of the day, played at False Bay Rugby Club in Cape Town, will provide an early form guide for WP, but Stanley Raubenheimer’s charges should have enough guns in their arsenal to keep the Free State Women at bay.
Klein is a wily coach though and with veteran campaigners Marlene Adams and Bernice Strydom at the fore, the Free Staters will be very competitive.
Speaking ahead of the campaign, Bulls Daisies captain Lusanda Dumke said the team’s energy and motivation are higher than ever.
“We are so excited to get going and begin a new campaign, especially because this is such an important year for Women’s Rugby with the World Cup.
“We are all becoming adaptable players because the season has changed and so our year becomes longer which is exciting, we get to test our athletic ability and depth.
“Everything starts behind the scenes, the amount of work we have all put in during the holidays, when we got back into the camp, everyone was energetic and hungry for more success. That is always good to see because it means we all want the positive results as bad as we did when we started.”
Round One fixtures:
Saturday, January 25
Boland Dames vs Golden Lions Women
Venue: Boland Stadium, Wellington
Kick-off: 12.00 (10.00 GMT)
Referee: Luvuyo Maceba
Border Ladies vs Sharks Women
Venue: Baysville High School, East London
Kick-off: 13.00 (11.00 GMT)
Referee: Siya Mhana
EP Queens v Bulls Daisies
Venue: Wolfson Stadium, Gqeberha
Kick-off: 13.00 (11.00 GMT)
Referee: Siyanda Pikoli
Western Province v Cheetah Queens
Venue: False Bay RFC, Cape Town
Kick-off: 15.00 (13.00 GMT)
Referee: Angie Bezuidenhout
Source: SA Rugby
