The future of women’s rugby in South Africa is at stake when the Springbok Women Sevens team take to the field during the World Rugby Qualifier Tournament and the Commonwealth Games.

“We will be playing for more than immediate good results. I see it as us playing to establish sevens rugby in South Africa as one of the major women’s sports in South Africa. A victory at the qualifying tournament will be a vital breakthrough as it will mean that we get to play the top teams all the time and not just randomly. Another positive spin-off is that the standard of women’s rugby in the country should improve,” said Megan Comley who is part of the Bok team due to play the two tournaments.

She is of the opinion that if the Boks get to qualify for the World Series in Hong Kong (6-7 April), it will be just the confidence booster they need before they start their Commonwealth Games campaign which is straight afterwards.

Last year the Boks lost out to Japan in the qualifying tournament, but the team has been growing in stature under the guidance of Paul Delport who is the new coach.

Earlier this year they finished third in the Super7sBrisbane tournament beating France in the playoffs. It was an incredible turnabout considering that the French outplayed the Boks during the Dubai Sevens Tournament last November.

Comley who learned the basics of sevens rugby at Tuks praises Delport for the sense of self-believe he is starting to install in the team.

“He keeps on emphasising that as players we got to learn to make the decisions at crucial moments during a game because what happens on the field is out his hands. Our biggest challenge for the upcoming tournaments is going to be to execute what we practise daily to perfection during the games. If we can do so, we have a realistic chance of getting the results we want.”

Reaching the playoffs during the Commonwealth Games is going to be tough as South Africa is in the same group as Canada and Australia who are respectively ranked as the fourth and sixth best teams in the world. South Africa is ranked 13th. Kenya who is ranked 31st is the fourth team in the group.

Ironically a few years back Comley did not even realise that women can play rugby.

"I was a keen sprinter. Everything changed when I was at a festival with friends. A woman walked up to me and complimented me on my physique saying that she can see that I am strong and fast. She then asked whether I ever considered playing rugby. That was the first time I ever heard that women could play rugby."

As one to never shy away from a good challenge, Comley decided to give it a go, so she went to train with the Sharks team. She then got an offer to play for the Lions before being lured to the Blue Bulls.

It was Riaan van der Merwe, UP-Tuks coach, who suggested to her to also consider playing sevens rugby.

"I jumped at the opportunity to play for Tuks as I knew they got one of the best women's sevens sides. I never regretted it."