Northern Edition

Select Edition

Northern Northern
Southern Southern
Global Global
New Zealand New Zealand
France France

The 12 women’s African teams chasing qualification for Challenger Series

Nadine Roos #9 of the South Africa Women's National Team scores a try during a women's 9th Place Semi Final match between Japan and South Africa on day three of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Stade de France on July 29, 2024 in Paris, France. (Photo by Alex Ho/ISI Photos/Getty Images)

In a historic first for West Africa, Ghana is set to host the Rugby Africa Women’s Sevens Tournament, which is also a qualifier for the HSBC Sevens Challenger Series 2025. There are a dozen teams that will compete over two days at the University of Ghana on November 9-10.

ADVERTISEMENT

Organised in partnership with the Government of Ghana, 12 teams will come together, but only one can stand above the rest as winners. While this tournament will determine this year’s champions of Africa, there’s also plenty to celebrate for those who place second and third.

The top three teams will secure their place on World Rugby’s second-tier Challenger Series, which sits behind the premier international circuit, the HSBC SVNS Series. That makes this an important step for teams who have an ambition to play in the top flight competition.

Defending champions South Africa headline the event that also includes Kenya, Tunisia, Zimbabwe, Burkina Faso, Madagascar, Ghana, Mauritius, Uganda, Zambia, Senegal and Cote D’Ivoire. Entry into the University of Ghana’s Rugby Stadium is free for this event.

“I think the youth is actually good for our senior players, that gives them much more energy that they need so hopefully they can blend it together and make something special,” South Africa assistant coach Cecil Afrika said in a video.

“There’s always pressure. I think for us, it’s the relative focus on us, understanding where we’re at as a team and where we’re working towards.

ADVERTISEMENT

“We’re not trying to focus on external pressure, there’s always going to be pressure… that’s our sole focus, focusing on us and where we need to be and what we need to do that we give ourselves an opportunity to quality for the Challenger Series and then work from there.”

This is a milestone tournament for Ghana as it reflects the growing standing of rugby union in the West African nation. It’ll be held at the Rugby Stadium, which is also the region’s first purpose-built rugby venue – having been completed ahead of the 2023 African Games.

All 34 matches will be available for live streaming on RugbyPass TV, and it’s free for fans to register for that platform. The tournament will get underway with Zambia taking on Senegal at 9:00 am local time (GMT) on Saturday, November 9.

POOL A: South Africa, Tunisia, Zimbabwe, Burkina Faso

POOL B: Kenya, Madagascar, Ghana, Mauritius

ADVERTISEMENT

POOL C: Uganda, Zambia, Senegal, Cote D’Ivoire

Matchday 1

• Game 1: Zambia vs Senegal (9:00)
• Game 2: Uganda vs Cote d’Ivoire (9:22)
• Game 3: Ghana vs Madagascar (9:44)
• Game 4: Kenya vs Mauritius (10:06)
• Game 5: Tunisia vs Zimbabwe (10:28)
• Game 6: South Africa vs Burkina Faso (10:50)
• Game 7: Zambia vs Côte d’Ivoire (11:44)
• Game 8: Uganda vs Senegal (12:06)
• Game 9: Madagascar vs Mauritius (12:28)
• Game 10: Kenya vs Ghana (12:50)
• Game 11: Tunisia vs Burkina Faso (13:12)
• Game 12: South Africa vs Zimbabwe (13:34)
• Game 13: Senegal vs Cote d’Ivoire (14:50)
• Game 14: Uganda vs Zambia (15:12)
• Game 15: Kenya vs Madagascar (15:34)
• Game 16: Zimbabwe vs Burkina Faso (15:56)
• Game 17: South Africa vs Tunisia (16:18)
• Game 18: Ghana vs Mauritius (16:40)

HSBC SVNS Perth takes place on 24-26 January at HBF Park. Plan your ultimate rugby weekend in Western Australia with the help of flexible travel packages including tickets and accommodation. Buy Now or Find Out More.  

ADVERTISEMENT

LIVE

{{item.title}}

Trending on RugbyPass

Comments

0 Comments
Be the first to comment...

Join free and tell us what you really think!

Sign up for free
ADVERTISEMENT

Latest Features

Comments on RugbyPass

J
JW 2 hours ago
'Passionate reunion of France and New Zealand shows Fabien Galthie is wrong to rest his stars'

Ok, managed to read the full article..

... New Zealand’s has only 14 and the professional season is all over within four months. In France, club governance is the responsibility of an independent organisation [the Ligue Nationale de Rugby or LNR] which is entirely separate from the host union [the Fédération Française de Rugby or FFR]. Down south New Zealand Rugby runs the provincial and the national game.

That is the National Provincial Championship, a competition of 14 representative union based teams run through the SH international window and only semi professional (paid only during it's running). It is run by NZR and goes for two and a half months.


Super Rugby is a competition involving 12 fully professional teams, of which 5 are of New Zealand eligibility, and another joint administered team of Pacific Island eligibility, with NZR involvement. It was a 18 week competition this year, so involved (randomly chosen I believe) extra return fixtures (2 or 3 home and away derbys), and is run by Super Rugby Pacific's own independent Board (or organisation). The teams may or may not be independently run and owned (note, this does not necessarily mean what you think of as 'privately owned').


LNR was setup by FFR and the French Government to administer the professional game in France. In New Zealand, the Players Association and Super Rugby franchises agreed last month to not setup their own governance structure for professional rugby and re-aligned themselves with New Zealand Rugby. They had been proposing to do something like the English model, I'm not sure how closely that would have been aligned to the French system but it did not sound like it would have French union executive representation on it like the LNR does.

In the shaky isles the professional pyramid tapers to a point with the almighty All Blacks. In France the feeling for country is no more important than the sense of fierce local identity spawned at myriad clubs concentrated in the southwest. Progress is achieved by a nonchalant shrug and the wide sweep of nuanced negotiation, rather than driven from the top by a single intense focus.

Yes, it is pretty much a 'representative' selection system at every level, but these union's are having to fight for their existence against the regime that is NZR, and are currently going through their own battle, just as France has recently as I understand it. A single focus, ala the French game, might not be the best outcome for rugby as a whole.


For pure theatre, it is a wonderful article so far. I prefer 'Ntamack New Zealand 2022' though.

The young Crusader still struggles to solve the puzzle posed by the shorter, more compact tight-heads at this level but he had no problem at all with Colombe.

It was interesting to listen to Manny during an interview on Maul or Nothing, he citied that after a bit of banter with the All Black's he no longer wanted one of their jersey's after the game. One of those talks was an eye to eye chat with Tamaiti Williams, there appear to be nothing between the lock and prop, just a lot of give and take. I thought TW angled in and caused Taylor to pop a few times, and that NZ were lucky to be rewarded.

f you have a forward of 6ft 8ins and 145kg, and he is not at all disturbed by a dysfunctional set-piece, you are in business.

He talked about the clarity of the leadership that helped alleviate any need for anxiety at the predicaments unfolding before him. The same cannot be said for New Zealand when they had 5 minutes left to retrieve a match winning penalty, I don't believe. Did the team in black have much of a plan at any point in the game? I don't really call an autonomous 10 vehicle they had as innovative. I think Razor needs to go back to the dealer and get a new game driver on that one.

Vaa’i is no match for his power on the ground. Even in reverse, Meafou is like a tractor motoring backwards in low gear, trampling all in its path.

Vaa'i actually stops him in his tracks. He gets what could have been a dubious 'tackle' on him?

A high-level offence will often try to identify and exploit big forwards who can be slower to reload, and therefore vulnerable to two quick plays run at them consecutively.

Yes he was just standing on his haunches wasn't he? He mentioned that in the interview, saying that not only did you just get up and back into the line to find the opposition was already set and running at you they also hit harder than anything he'd experienced in the Top 14. He was referring to New Zealands ultra-physical, burst-based Super style of course, which he was more than a bit surprised about. I don't blame him for being caught out.


He still sent the obstruction back to the repair yard though!

What wouldn’t the New Zealand rugby public give to see the likes of Mauvaka and Meafou up front..

Common now Nick, don't go there! Meafou showed his Toulouse shirt and promptly got his citizenship, New Zealand can't have him, surely?!?


As I have said before with these subjects, really enjoy your enthusiasm for their contribution on the field and I'd love to see more of their shapes running out for Vern Cotter and the like styled teams.

286 Go to comments
TRENDING
TRENDING Tyrone Green decision has huge bearing on his international future Tyrone Green decision has huge bearing on his international future
Search