Few in the world of HSBC SVNS will know of Wegdraai, a town in the Northern Cape of South Africa with a population of 2200, but come next weekend in Spain, those attending the second leg of the World Championship will catch a glimpse of one of the town’s finest exports.
There won’t be any sultanas on display from the agricultural village on the banks of the Gariep River a full 11,300km away from Estadio Jose Zorrilla in Valladolid, but rather a new face in Vianca Boer of the Springbok Women’s Sevens.
The 24-year-old is no stranger to local sevens fans – after all, she has played for the national team in the Sevens Challenger Series in Poland in 2025, as well as the Rugby Africa Women’s Sevens Championship and SVNS 3 tournaments, but a knee injury prevented her from competing in the more demanding SVNS 2 series and now, the World Championship.
And no one is more excited than Boer to board their flight from Cape Town to Madrid via Amsterdam on Sunday. For her, facing the unknown is a positive challenge, rather than negative adversity and she is ready to face the big names when the South Africans meet USA, Australia and Fiji next weekend.
It was a long journey for Boer, who first started playing rugby at Groblershoop High School, the nearest town to Wegdraai with a secondary school, but once she touched the oval ball, there was a connection that shaped her ambitions.
The provincial pathway eased her into the system and after being selected for Griquas’ U16 and U18 YTC squads, she also represented the union at the national age-group weeks.
She enrolled at North West University in Potchefstroom and although her first two years were affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, as soon as things returned to normal, Boer joined the university women’s team.
Soon, she was selected for the Leopards provincial team and from that point, it was clear where her career was heading. Higher honours followed when she was selected for the national universities team (USSA) before the inevitable call-up to train with the Springbok Women’s Sevens.
That offer came as she graduated from NWU with a degree in in teaching, which made the decision to become part of the national an easy one.
A try in her Krakow debut made the trip to Poland even more memorable, and more followed in the SVNS 3 tournament in Dubai, where the South Africa won the title. Boer also injured her knee in the UAE and the resulting surgery took her out of the SVNS 2 timeframe, but now she is as ready as she can be.
“We prepared well since the team returned from Hong Kong and I had a lot of time on the field with them, so I am confident that I can deliver what is expected of me,” Boer said shortly before departure to Spain.
“I am playing as a sweeper and in that role, you need to anticipate what players in other positions are likely to do to react quickest, so your focus is one the game, not on heavy legs.
“It will be important for us as a team to stick to the things we trained as I think we had a good couple of weeks with coach Cecil Afrika. There were new players coming in as well, as SVNS 2 took its toll with injuries, but we have grown into a team nicely over the last couple of weeks. Everyone just need to trust and bring their skill set to the game and if that happens, we will be successful.”
For Boer, facing the biggest names in the sport on the field in the next week, is an exciting prospect: “They are the best in the world and to be tested against them is what every player hopes to experience. I am ready. No one can run without legs, and I trust my defence and loves nothing more than a good solid tackle.”
South Africa’s Pool B fixtures (SA times, all matches live on SuperSport):
Friday 29 May
- 10h22: USA
- 14h29: Australia
Saturday 30 May
- 10h00: Fiji
Uluru Walker
The term ‘tries’ in rugby has an intriguing origin story. Initially, there were no points awarded for tries, and the term referred to the attempt made by a player to kick the ball for a goal. This action was eventually renamed as a ‘conversion,’ but the original term ‘tries’ has persisted as a crucial part of rugby terminology.