In the narrow cobbled lanes of Dorp Street in Bo-Kaap, rugby flows through the neighbourhood like the south-easter whipping around Table Mountain. On Saturdays, the streets empty. Families gather around televisions or pack into club grounds. The game lives in the rhythm of the community.
Now one of its daughters is carrying that heartbeat onto the international stage.
Insaaf Levy is preparing to become the first qualified medical doctor to represent the senior Springbok Women side at the Rugby Africa Women’s Cup in Nairobi.
Insaaf Levy when she is not on the rugby field Image: Instagram
At 23, Levy already moves through life with the composure of a seasoned scrumhalf guiding forwards around the park. In March, she completed her medical degree at the University of Cape Town while continuing to sharpen her craft for DHL Western Province Women.
Balancing medicine and elite rugby is like trying to defend a five-metre scrum with one shoulder. The physical and mental demands rarely leave space to breathe. Yet Levy navigated both worlds with the precision of a long spiral pass fired into the chest of a charging runner.
Her rise to the national squad under headcoach Swys de Bruin feels significant far beyond rugby.
Insaaf Levy in action on the rugby field Image: Instagram
This is a story stitched together by family, community and relentless repetition.
Levy grew up in one of Cape Town’s richest rugby bloodlines. Her father, Labeeb Levy, is a respected Stormersskills coach and current Stormers XXIII head coach. Her maternal grandfather, the late Sedick Sieed, remains a revered figure in Cape rugby circles from the Saru era.
Inside the Levy household, rugby conversations arrive as naturally as dinner.
“We always talking about rugby in our household,” Levy said.
“My dad would go from a normal conversation about literally anything else. He would think about something he saw and then the conversation just switches.”
That constant education shaped her rugby intelligence long before provincial colours arrived.
At seven years old, Levy began playing touch rugby and quickly emerged as one of the country’s brightest talents. She represented South Africa at the Youth Touch World Cup in Malaysia in 2018 and later featured at senior Touch World Cups in Malaysia and England. Her sporting versatility stretched further into netball, where she represented the Western Province U21 side while studying medicine.
Every layer of that journey helped fashion the calm, instinctive scrumhalf now standing on the edge of Springbok selection.
“As a scrumhalf, passing has been my main focus since I was younger,” Levy explained.
“My dad would say come after supper you have to pass 500 balls left and right, then you can go do what you want.”
Those repetitions became the bricks of her game. Her passing now zips across the field like a ball skimming off wet turf under floodlights.
Levy studies the craft obsessively. She admires Antoine Dupont and Aaron Smith for their control of tempo and tactical awareness, while drawing local inspiration from Felicia Jacobs.
Yet rugby in Bo-Kaap is never an individual story.
Haashim Pead and Insaaf levy firing passes on a tennis court in Bo-Kaap as children
The same streets that nurtured Levy also shaped risingJunior Springbok scrumhalf Haashim Pead. Video clips of the pair as children firing passes on a tennis court now feel like snapshots of a community producing talent with assembly-line consistency.
The rugby roots run even deeper through her younger sister, Nuha Levy, a gifted flyhalf already excelling for South Africa Women U18 and DHL Western Province Women U20. Earlier this month, Nuha steered WP to the national U20 Women’s Week title in Alberton.
Together, the sisters carry the tantalising possibility of one day becoming a Springbok halfback pairing forged in Bo-Kaap’s rugby furnace.
Nuha and her sister Insaaf Levy could one day play together for the Springbok Women Image: Instagram
For Levy, however, identity stretches beyond sport.
She speaks proudly about her late grandfathers, Sedick Sieed and Tahir Levy, whose influence grounded her in service and humility.
“Papa [Tahir Levy] selflessly dedicated his entire life to serve his community as an activist and social worker,” she said.
That spirit of service now shapes both halves of her life.
“Studying medicine while playing rugby was tough to manage,” Levy admitted.
“Now that I am qualified and working, I am looking forward to not only serving the ball from the base of a scrum but also being of service to my community as a doctor.”
Swys de Bruin, head coach of the Springbok Women Image: SA Rugby
De Bruin believes those qualities elevate her value within the squad.
“Insaaf earned this opportunity through consistency, game understanding and work ethic,” he said.
“She reads space very well; she has a calm temperament under pressure and her decision-making around the breakdown impressed us throughout the season.”
South Africa’s Rugby Africa Women’s Cup campaign against Madagascar, Uganda and Kenya is another building block ahead of a demanding international season that includes Tests against the USA and the Black Ferns.
