Springbok Women’s Sevens squad announced for HSBC Sevens tournaments' in Uruguay and Brazil

Maceala Samboya and Shanidiné Bezuidenhout are in line to make their Springbok Women’s Sevens debuts later this month when the final two HSBC SVNS 2 tournaments take place in Uruguay and Brazil. SA coach Cecil Afrika confirmed a group of 14 players will travel to South America on Sunday.

The tournaments will be played in Montevideo (21–22 March) and São Paulo (28–29 March).

Afrika has recalled the experienced Catha Jacobs, who made her debut in 2019, to the squad, which Nadine Roos will captain. Eleven players who competed in Kenya last month. where the team won four of five matches. have been retained, while the injured Leigh Fortuin is the only player from the Nairobi event not included in the travelling party.

Jacobs last played in the 2019 HSBC SVNS Cape Town and has since amassed 26 Test caps for the Springbok Women, including Women's Rugby World Cup appearances in New Zealand (2022) and England (2025). She played for the Golden Lions Women in the Pick n Pay Women’s Super League 1 before being invited to the final training camp and now the travelling squad.

Samboya (7 Test caps) also represented the Fifteens team in England and joined the training squad after the Rugby World Cup last year. A knee injury hampered her progress, but she has recovered and is set for her international sevens debut.

Bezuidenhout not only holds a postgraduate certificate in education (with distinction) from Stellenbosch University, but she also claimed gold with the university in both netball and rugby. She was a member of the squads that won the Varsity Netball title in 2022 and the FNB Varsity Cup Women’s rugby competition in April 2025.

She has been part of the Springbok Women’s Sevens training squad since last year and was a member of the Bok Women’s Sevens ‘A’ squad that played in the International Invitational tournament in Dubai in December.

Afrika said that he is excited about the potential contributions the trio can bring to his squad.

"Catha is physical and has a good presence on the field, while Maceala is a very special player, very elusive with fast feet," said Afrika.

"Shanidiné is new to sevens rugby, but she is a quick learner and has very good skills carried over from her netball days. They slotted in well with the rest of the squad, and I think we have a good and balanced team travelling."

Afrika noted that although a good foundation was laid in Kenya, Argentina, Brazil, Spain, China, and Kenya will all come back stronger and wiser.

"We looked at areas of improvement and worked on those," he said. "Our restarts were poor in Kenya and we did not finish enough opportunities when we were on the attack in our opponents’ half."

The South Africans open their campaign against Spain, with China and Brazil their other opponents on day one. They will face Kenya and Argentina on the second day in Montevideo.

"We also opened against Spain in Kenya and our attitude will be the same, we will focus on them and make sure we get the good start we want," said Afrika.

The Springbok Women's Sevens arrive in South America placed second on the log, with the top four sides qualifying for the HSBC SVNS World Championship events in Hong Kong (17–19 April), Valladolid (29–31 May), and Bordeaux (7–9 June).

Bok Women’s Sevens Fixtures (SA Times)
Saturday, 21 March

16h23: Spain

18h46: China

21h36: Brazil

Sunday, 22 March

19h23: Kenya

22h39: Argentina