The Rugby Africa Cup Women’s 15s tournament is set to take place from 9th to 17th October this year at the Stade de Rugby d’El Menzah in Tunis, Tunisia.
Tunisia, Côte d’Ivoire, and Senegal will battle it out in the field, with Senegal expected to arrive in Tunisia on October 7 and Côte d’Ivoire arriving on October 11.
The tournament programme is as follows.
- 9th October: Match Tunisia vs Senegal
- 13th October: Match Senegal vs Côte d’Ivoire
- 17th October: Match Tunisia vs Côte d’Ivoire
The 2021 series of matches aims to assess teams and give an opportunity to as many teams as possible to showcase their talent before an adequate competition format is designed for next year’s qualification to the WXV competition.
Between June and July 2021, Kenya faced Madagascar twice in Nairobi while Uganda met Zimbabwe twice in Kampala. The Cameroonians had defeated their Burkinabe sisters twice in Ouagadougou on June 9 and 12.
This year, a series of test matches involving 11 countries to assess levels of play was held. Next year hopes to see the start of a new full structured African competition to qualify African representatives to the new global WXV competition launched by World Rugby.
By establishing a unified international 15s calendar and introducing WXV, World Rugby are creating a platform for the women’s international teams to compete in more consistent, competitive, and sustainable competitions at regional and global level.
As part of Rugby Africa’s mission is to develop women’s rugby on the continent, the tournament enables women to express themselves through this sport of strong values.
Last year the Women’s Rugby Advisory Committee (WRAC) was established to advise all Rugby Africa committees on positive gender inclusion practices, with a particular focus on women’s rugby.
Speaking about the tournament and impact of female rugby development, Women’s Rugby manager at Rugby Africa, Maha Zaoui said, “The promotion and positioning of women in rugby at all levels will result in significantly increased involvement and interest from fans, players and ultimately investors.”
“Senagalese rugby is ranked in the top ten in Africa and in the top 50 in the world. We have shown that we can compete with other African countries. The women are pumped for action and continue our country’s passion for the game,” commented Colonel Baba Fofana, Manager of the Senegal team.