All Roads Lead to LA

Having grown up in the Border region, shared change rooms at Western Province and the Bulls Daisies, as well as with the Springbok Women at the Rugby World Cup and the Springbok Women’s Sevens, one can almost expect Zintle Mpupha and Simamkele Namba to complete each other’s sentences.

As it turned out during the 2024 HSBC SVNS, the duo – who both play in the midfield in fifteens – often replaced each other during a match at any given tournament, either at centre or in the scrum, depending on where their skills were needed by Bok Women’s Sevens coach Renfred Dazel.

They even played with the same multi-coloured scrum caps, ran the same lines and would often force gasps from the crowds with thundering hits on opponents.

But where Mpupha, the team’s co-captain last season, managed to complete her year with a first Olympic Games appearance, Namba could only watch from a distance after a serious knee injury at the second last tournament of the world series robbed her of completing a dream year for the national sevens team, which culminated with their trip to Paris for the Olympics.

Victory over Fiji in their final match brought some sunshine over that campaign and their season after the Bok Women lost their spot as core team when they bowed out in Madrid during the HSBC SVNS Play-off.

For Namba it was a bitter pill to swallow. As one of the hardest workers in the team, she could only watch as the side slipped up in Spain and then recovered some dignity in Paris.

“It was tough, I am not going to lie to you,” said Namba from Los Angeles this week. “Watching from afar, knowing there is nothing you can do to add and assist the team while being in pain yourself, recovering from an operation.

“And then, watching them compete at the Olympics, knowing that it was not to be for you, but at least that time, I could share the joy I knew they felt.”

It will be the 26-year-old’s return to the big stage and for Namba it comes just at the right time: “The rehab was long, and I was eager to get back to play in a tournament again. I am just happy to be back in time for the play-offs, as this time I can contribute on the field as well. I was hoping to play in the Challenger Series but had to be patient. The wait is finally over for me though.”

Mpupha, on the other hand, was busy. Post the Olympics, she played for the Springbok Women in WXV 2 and when the Challenger Series arrived in Cape Town, she was back at Athlone Stadium, doing her thing in the shorter version of the game.

A suspension ruled her out of the final in the second weekend in Cape Town, but she was ready to perform in Krakow, helping the side to win. Mpupha joined the Springbok Women in Spain before linking up with the sevens team again before departure to Los Angeles.

“The coaches managed the process well and I don’t feel tired – in fact, I am ready to go again,” Mpupha said of her continued sevens journey.

“The win in Krakow boosted our confidence, but we know this will be a different level of intensity. We are starting at zero again and will have to work very hard to achieve success here.

“We have so much to win, but also so much to lose if we don’t qualify. We are not only playing for our own survival, but also for those back home who will be able to play competitive sevens only if we are successful here.

“Having lost our spot on the series and given Namba’s injury, I was not expecting to be back here in LA, where we had our best result as a team, playing for the team again, with her alongside me. It is great.”