Dames happy with underdog tag for WSL final

Sanlam Boland Dames head coach, Thomas Chowles, believes his team can spring a surprise when they face the Isuzu Bulls Daisies in Saturday’s Pick ‘n Pay Women’s Super League 1 final.

It will be the Dames’ first appearance in a top-tier final of women’s provincial rugby.

A goal that Chowles has set out for the team since winning the first division title in 2018.

During the 2024 and 2025 seasons, when this competition was still named the Premier Division, losses to DHL Western Province Women in the league phase on both occasions saw the Dames miss out on a finals spot.

And during the 2023 season, when the competition was played over 14 rounds and included a semi-final knockout round, the Dames were also denied a finals spot by their Western Cape neighbours.

This year, Boland managed to turn the tables this season after beating the WP Women in a tense encounter in Wellington a few weeks ago.

That allowed the Dames to reach the final, having suffered one loss – to Saturday’s fellow finalists the Daisies – during the league phase.

“Reaching the final is the fulfilment of a goal that we have set for ourselves back in 2018, when we won the First Division (now Pick ‘n Pay Women’s Super League 2),” Chowles explained.

“The goal we set for ourselves back then was to try and win the then Premier Division over the next five years.

“Then the Covid-19 pandemic struck in 2020 and meant we had to reset our goal.”

And now that his team has reached that goal, Chowles wants his side to stick to the game that got them to a final and cause an upset at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria.

However, the Dames’ previous visit to Pretoria ended in a bit of a mismatch, as the Daisies, with all their Springbok Women players in the side, ran out 47-8 victors.

The game was also called off at half-time due to dangerous weather.

But Chowles says he saw some positive signs from his team before the break and subsequent end to that clash.

“We were pretty upset about not getting the opportunity to retake the field, as I felt we were getting back into the contest despite the scoreboard suggesting something else.

“Going into this final as the underdogs does not faze us. We are just preparing as we would normally do for any other game.

“We know we are the underdogs after losing that round-robin match at Loftus and after they already had a comfortable lead at halftime, when the game had to be called off.

“We will just go out there and stick to our game plan against the Daisies, and I believe we can spring a bit of a surprise against them.”

Saturday’s Pick ’n Pay Women’s Super League One final at Loftus Versfeld kicks off at 11am and will be broadcast live on SuperSport Channel 206.