Namibia and Zambia are set to face each other at the 2021 Rugby Africa series of women’s 15s final test matches. 11 countries were involved in this series this year, with the purpose of assessing levels of play amongst women’s teams in Africa.
Next year will see the start of a new fully structured African competition to qualify African representatives to the new global WXV competition launched by World Rugby.
Between June and July 2021, Kenya faced Madagascar twice in Nairobi while Uganda met Zimbabwe twice in Kampala. Cameroon defeated their Burkina Faso counterparts twice in Ouagadougou on June 9 and 12. Tunisia emerged victorious in a three teams’ tournament against Senegal and Côte d’Ivoire in October in Tunis.
By establishing a unified international 15s calendar and introducing WXV, World Rugby is creating a platform for women’s international teams to compete in more competitive and sustainable competitions at regional and global levels.
As part of its mission to develop women’s rugby on the continent, Rugby Africa enables women to express themselves through this sport. 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. The role of the Committee is to define key performance indicators to demonstrate progress of the development of women in rugby at all levels and monitor player welfare and development and retention of female players.
Janis Nduli, Chairperson of the Zambia Rugby Women’s Association expressed optimism saying, “The national Zambian ladies team currently ranked world #30 are rearing to prove themselves against our Namibian sisters who are currently ranked number 52. We are counting on Captain Natasha Musonda and our fearless team including the formidable likes of Margaret Kasonka to give Namibia a great show.”
Commenting on the match, CJ Kotze, Coach of Namibia’s National Women’s 15s Team said, “We are ecstatic about the Namibia Zambia game that lies ahead. It marks the beginning of an exciting journey for Namibian women’s rugby and I am extremely delighted that our first match will be played at home. At present, we are not predicting the result, but at least we will know exactly where Namibian women’s rugby stands competitively once the final whistle has been blown. This will also give us insight into the strategies that need to be put in place for Namibia to become a competitive nation in Africa.”