The u/20 women’s rugby tournament festival held in Mthatha last week was described as a success, as some of the teams finished the tournament without a loss.
Among those who won matches included teams from the Western Province, Limpopo and Zimbabwe.
Lissy Wasarirevu,, head coach of the Zimbabwe u/20 team, describes the u/20 Women’s National Tournament as a crucial event in terms of development of rugby, both in Zimbabwe and South Africa.
“It’s promoting women in many big ways. It helped the development of rugby, and I am happy with how the players reacted to the matches here in Mthatha,” she said.
“Our visit to South Africa we take as a big development match, and we are very privileged to play against the South African team and the SA squad. It will help us a lot as we get to sharpen our senior team.”
The u/20 tournament took place from September 24 to 28.
Eastern Cape MEC of Sport, Recreation, Arts and Culture in the Eastern Cape, Nonceba Kontsiwe, said that women’s rugby in the Eastern Cape is gaining momentum and they are also pleased that it is breaking the stereotype that rugby is a sport only for men.
“They displayed good rugby, and we have been experiencing this across the province where we see young girls playing good rugby. We are targeting to reach 120 clubs to develop and support them across the province,” said Kontsiwe.
Local rugby teams and schools expressed their excitement and gratitude for the opportunity.
