Coach Cecil Afrika hails team spirit as Bok Women secure Dubai qualification

The Springbok Women's Sevens team successfully defended their African title in Nairobi on Sunday, outplaying hosts and main contenders, Kenya, in the Rugby Africa Women's Sevens Cup final.

The Bok Women's Sevens team kept their undefeated run going by beating Kenya 22-0 in the 2025 final, completing a remarkable performance where they did not concede any points throughout the entire tournament.

After the final victory, coach Cecil Afrika praised the attitude of the players, highlighting their strong desire to play for the team and each other, alongside a good team spirit.

He stated that these were the foundations they built upon during their five matches, in which they scored a total of 214 points without conceding a solitary point in Nairobi.

"The players really deserve the credit, they did put in such hard work and the results were a welcome reward for that," said Afrika. "We came here to defend our title, but also to qualify for the Challenger 3 tournament, something we managed to do. So it is mission accomplished."

Afrika was pleased that the players stuck to the game plan: "There was a good bond in the squad and the players remained a tight-knit group throughout the weekend. That helped in us executing what we wanted to."

The South African side had good momentum heading into the final against Kenya, after steamrolling Ghana 48-0 and Madagascar 29-0 in the quarter- and semi-finals earlier on Sunday. The victory also confirmed that the Bok Women qualified for the eight-team Division Three competition, which will be staged as a standalone Challenger event in Dubai in January.

Focus Shifts to Dubai

The SA coach added that the next phase of their rebuilding program will get underway next week.

"Next up is the international invitational tournament in Dubai in two weeks’ time, as part of the Emirates Dubai Sevens, so the focus will move to that now," Afrika confirmed.

He added that they would use the upcoming tournament to build depth:

"We will name some players in that squad that are still developing, as we need to broaden the base for the Challenger 3 tournament in January, that will also take place in Dubai."

"I believe we will have good internal competition inside the squad to make it to that big one in Dubai next year."