Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus named an exciting 51-man squad – featuring 21 uncapped players – on Saturday evening for the team’s first training camp of the season, starting in Johannesburg on Monday, with an eye on the double-header between the Boks and the Barbarians, as well as the clash between the SA ‘A’ team against Zimbabwe, in Gqeberha on Saturday, 20 June. With the Vodacom Bulls players unavailable for selection after booking their place in the Vodacom United Rugby

The Springbok Women's Sevens suffered two losses on Day Two of the HSBC SVNS Bordeaux on Saturday and will be in a battle for the 11th place with Brazil. Brave performances against France and New Zealand on Day One was followed by a defeat to Argentina in their final pool match. South Africa came up short 17-5 with the result handing the wooden spoon to Zintle Mpupha and her squad, confirming that they will not play in the top tier in the 2027 season. They again lost to Argen

The DHL Stormers showed plenty of heart but ultimately went down 20-11 in their Vodacom URC semi-final against Leinster in Dublin on Saturday. It was a committed display from the Stormers but a late try from the defending champions secured a hard-fought victory to book their place in the Grand Final against the Vodacom Bulls. The home side started strong and dominated both territory and possession, which eventually resulted in All Black centre Rieko Ioane going over for the o

The fifth United Rugby Championship Grand Final will take place on Friday, June 19 at Dublin’s Croke Park, where Leinster and the Vodacom Bulls will face each other in a rematch of last year’s decider. After two stellar semi-finals in Edinburgh and Dublin, Leinster and the Bulls secured their places in the 2026 URC Grand Final, where Leinster will defend their title against a Bulls side appearing in their fourth league finale in five years. As the highest-ranked team in the G

The Springbok Sevens outlasted Fiji by 14-12 in the HSBC SVNS Bordeaux quarter-final in a dramatic afternoon in France, with the result ensuring that South Africa retain their World Championship title, despite what happens on Sunday. The World Championship triumph came as a repeat of last season, when the team claimed the top gong in a single tournament, played in Los Angeles. This time around, a tournament win in Hong Kong and a second place in Valladolid – combined with the

The Springbok Sevens team delivered one of their worst performances of the 2026 season in their HSBC SVNS Bordeaux opener on Friday and then bounced back to the standards set earlier in the season in their second match to restore some dignity, pride and momentum into Saturday, when they will face Fiji at 11.06am (SAST) in a Pool A decider. The Blitzboks lost 19-14 in extra-time to 12th-placed Great Britain in their opening match and then totally outplayed Kenya, currently in

The Springbok Women's Sevens lost both their matches on the opening day of the HSBC SVNS Bordeaux, against France and New Zealand. The opener against France (22-7) delivered some positive moments but it was a much tougher outing against New Zealand, where they lost 42-0. In their opening match against France, the Bok Women tackled like demons, with their defensive set stopping the home side time after time. South Africa made 32 tackles in the match and most of them we effecti

Embrose Papier. Johan Rynners/Vodacom Bulls Embrose Papier already has one of his standout rugby memories from Murrayfield, where he made his first start for the Springboks in 2018. Now he’s hoping to make more good memories at this iconic venue with the Vodacom Bulls in their Vodacom United Rugby Championship semi-final here on Saturday. Murrayfield is an unknown quantity for several players in the Vodacom Bulls team who will experience it for the first time when they face t

From left to right: Wilco Louw, John Whittaker, Gerhard Steenekamp and Jan-Hendrik Wessels. Johan Rynners/Vodacom Bulls When the Vodacom Bulls’ Marcell Coetzee asked John Whittaker how he was doing this week, Whittaker’s eyes started to fill with tears. For the proud Scotsman, this Vodacom Bulls team has been a literal lifesaver for him in his battle with cancer. Since the South African teams entered the Vodacom United Rugby Championship, Whittaker has served as the Liaison O

There are three injury-enforced changes to the DHL Stormers starting line-up for their Vodacom URC Semi-Final against Leinster in Dublin on Saturday. Injuries to wing Seabelo Senatla, flyhalf Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu and lock Ruben van Heerden in the quarter-final win against Cardiff in Cape Town last week have resulted in Wandisile Simelane, Jurie Matthee and Connor Evans stepping in for the knock-out match at the Aviva Stadium, which kicks off at 6.30pm (SAST) on Saturday.

Ivan van Rooyen and Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu have added their names to the United Rugby Championship Awards roll of honour by collecting the BKT Coach of the Season and Players’ Player of the Season prizes respectively. They are the latest award winners from the 2025/26 campaign as we celebrate the league’s best in class ahead of the semi-finals. BKT Coach of the Season - Ivan van Rooyen (Fidelity SecureDrive Lions) The stats speak for themselves when it comes to the job Iva

The Vodacom Bulls have named a powerful, Springbok-laden matchday 23 for Saturday’s Vodacom URC semifinal against Glasgow Warriors at Murrayfield, balancing milestone moments with the formidable challenge of facing the competition’s top-ranked side. With 11 Springboks in the starting XV and a further five on the bench, the Bulls have opted for experience, physicality and composure as they look to maintain their perfect record at this stage of the competition. The occasion is

There is the potential to make history in Bordeaux this weekend but the Springbok Sevens know full well that chasing results does not always have the desired effect. Hence, according to Blitzbok captain Impi Visser, a mindset of “team first” will carry them into the final HSBC SVNS World Championship tournament in France this weekend. The action starts on Friday, with pool matches against Great Britain and Kenya. Visser spoke on the eve of the tournament, where the Blitzboks

The Toyota Challenge is here – bigger and bolder, with three international rugby matches in one stadium on one match day. On Friday the Airlink Pumas take on Black Lion from Georgia at 1.30pm in the opening match of the tournament, followed by a game between the Suzuki Griquas and Romania A at 3.30pm and at 6pm the Toyota Cheetahs take on Cartrack Lusitanos from Portugal. Gates open at 12.30pm. All the games will be live on SuperSport. The first leg of the Toyota Challenge wi

The Vodacom Bulls and DHL Stormers will go full tilt this weekend to progress to the Vodacom United Rugby Championship final and in the process, uphold a proud tradition of at least one of these two South African powerhouses reaching the decider since the inception of the competition in the 2021/22 season. It’s not going to be easy for the two South African franchises though, as they have to take the fight to their opponents on foreign soil on Saturday for a spot in the Grand

The World Rugby Match Official appointments have been announced for the Nations Championship Southern Hemisphere Series taking place in July with James Doleman, Pierre Brousset and Andrew Brace being tasked with holding the whistle in the Boks’ three matches. New Zealander Doleman takes charge of the Boks’ opener against England at Ellis Park in Johannesburg on 4 July, with Brace (Ireland) and Brousset (France) running touch and Richard Kelly (New Zealand) being handed the TM

Try of the Season, powered by URC.tv - Angus Bell (Ulster Rugby) It’s been some season for props scoring sensational award-winning tries. First, Rhys Carre’s unforgettable effort for Wales against Ireland at the Aviva Stadium was chosen as the best in the Six Nations. Now fellow loosehead Angus Bell has won Try of the Season award for his own solo stunner (view it below). https://comms.unitedrugby.com/c/AQizyQ8QhfqRARixxKKkASDc9aMdKOH6qxd22MrZs2EH3Rx8m_BungHY56v5K8GwT7M3azh_b

Professional sport, especially those involving physical sacrifices such as rugby, can be brutal and at times cruel but try and tell that to dual Springbok Women's player Eloise Webb. After more than a decade of playing either fifteens or sevens, the 30-year-old Webb has seen it all and lived it all. A provincial cricketer and netball player when she was younger, the East London native and Nelson Mandela University graduate in education fell in love with rugby and despite some

After Hong Kong and Valladolid set an exhilarating tone, Bordeaux hosts what promises to be an epic third and final leg of the HSBC SVNS World Championship Series. The HSBC SVNS World Championship returns for one last dramatic tournament with three days of wall-to-wall action in the western French city of Bordeaux bringing the curtain down on an entertaining season of sevens rugby – with World Championship glory and a place among next season’s HSBC SVNS elite on the line. The

Former Springbok Women’s players Natasha Hofmeester and Zolisa Noxeke have been appointed as the first coaches of the SA Schools Girls teams, that will take the field for the first time after the FNB U18 Girls Week next month in Gqeberha. Hofmeester and Noxeke’s appointments, as well as those of other junior national teams, were ratified by SA Rugby’s National Teams Committee on Tuesday evening. Hofmeester will be assisted by Catherine Lowane at the SA Schools Girls team, whi