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Can England finally crack the Springboks code?

Adnaan MohamedPreview, Rugby, SpringboksLeave a Comment on Can England finally crack the Springboks code?
By Adnaan Mohamed

England have been here before. Close enough to see victory. Close enough to believe. Close enough to feel the Springboks wobble.

Then South Africa find another gear.

It has become a familiar script in one of rugby’s richest rivalries. England ask difficult questions, the Springboks absorb the pressure and somehow emerge with the answer that matters most.

Saturday’s opening Nations Championship Test at Ellis Park offers Steve Borthwick’s side another opportunity to prove they have bridged that stubborn gap. They could hardly have picked a sterner examination.

Johannesburg does not welcome visitors with open arms. The altitude drains lungs, the crowd feeds every collision and the Springboks have turned Ellis Park into one of world rugby’s least hospitable addresses.

Rassie Erasmus’ side arrive riding a nine-match winning streak and carrying the confidence of back-to-back Rugby Championship titles. Momentum has become their travelling companion and complacency remains unwelcome.

“The goal is to win,” Erasmus said this week.

Simple words. Typical Springboks.

His selection reflects a squad built for every occasion. Damian Willemse and Cheslin Kolbe celebrate their 50th Tests in a backline packed with proven match winners. Jesse Kriel and Damian de Allende remain one of international rugby’s most reliable midfield pairings, while Manie Libbok gets another chance to orchestrate an attack that can shift from controlled to chaotic in a heartbeat.

Up front, the Springboks possess enough muscle to move mountains.

Ox Nche, Malcolm Marx and Thomas du Toit anchor a front row that thrives on confrontation, with Eben Etzebeth, Siya Kolisi and Jasper Wiese providing the relentless edge that has become South Africa’s trademark.

Then comes the Bomb Squad.

Fresh legs. Fresh power. Fresh problems.

England know exactly what awaits.

George Martin has welcomed the physical battle after returning from injury, while Fin Smith shoulders the responsibility of steering England around one of rugby’s toughest venues. Immanuel Feyi-Waboso’s return offers genuine attacking spark, Tommy Freeman arrives in outstanding form and Henry Pollock is expected to inject his trademark energy from the bench after already making himself public enemy number one among many South African supporters.

Borthwick believes his squad is ready.

“Playing South Africa at Ellis Park is one of the great Tests in world rugby,” he said.

He is right.

England have enough quality to ask questions of the world champions. Their backline carries pace, their forwards have embraced the challenge and their confidence has steadily grown despite an underwhelming Six Nations campaign.

The problem is that Ellis Park rarely rewards promise.

The Springboks know exactly how they want to play. Dominate the set piece. Win the gain line. Squeeze territory. Turn pressure into points.

It is an approach forged through experience and sharpened by success.

England may remain within touching distance for long stretches, much like they have in recent meetings. History suggests that when the contest reaches its defining moments, South Africa usually discover another level.

Prediction: Springboks by 12.

Teams:

South Africa: 15 Damian Willemse, 14 Cheslin Kolbe, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian De Allende, 11 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 10 Manie Libbok, 9 Grant Williams, 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Pieter-Steph Du Toit, 6 Siya Kolisi (captain), 5 Ruan Nortje, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Thomas Du Toit, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Ox Nche.
Replacements: 16 Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 17 Gerhard Steenekamp, 18 Zachary Porthen, 19 Marco van Staden, 20 Cameron Hanekom, 21 Cobus Reinach, 22 Andre Esterhuizen, 23 Canan Moodie.

England: 15 George Furbank, 14 Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, 13 Tommy Freeman, 12 Seb Atkinson, 11 Cadan Murley, 10 Fin Smith, 9 Jack van Poortvliet, 8 Ben Earl, 7 Tom Curry, 6 Ollie Chessum, 5 George Martin, 4 Alex Coles, 3 Joe Heyes, 2 Jamie George (captain), 1 Ellis Genge.
Replacements: 16 Luke Cowan-Dickie,17 Beno Obano, 18 Asher Opoku-Fordjour, 19 Charlie Ewels, 20 Guy Pepper, 21 Henry Pollock, 22 Alex Mitchell, 23 Marcus Smith.

Date: Saturday, July 4
Venue: Ellis Park, Johannesburg
Kick-off: 17.40
Referee: James Doleman (New Zealand)
Assistant referees: Andrew Brace (Ireland) & Pierre Brousset (France)
TMO: Richard Kelly (New Zealand)

Images: x.com/Springboks

Dr Insaaf Levy set to make Springbok Women history

Adnaan MohamedRugby, Springbok WomenLeave a Comment on Dr Insaaf Levy set to make Springbok Women history
By Adnaan Mohamed

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 head coach 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 Stormers skills 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 rising Junior 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.

Among the new faces in green and gold, Levy’s story carries special resonance.

Not because she is a doctor.

Not because she comes from rugby royalty.

Her journey matters because it expands what young girls in South African rugby can imagine for themselves.

Dr Insaaf Levy at work as a doctor Image: Instagram

Like a scrumhalf spotting daylight around a crowded ruck, Dr Insaaf Levy has carved a lane entirely her own.

And from the colourful streets of Bo-Kaap to the bright lights of Nairobi, South African rugby is preparing to watch history arrive at pace.

Springbok Women fixtures

  • 23 May: South Africa vs Madagascar
  • 27 May: South Africa vs Uganda
  • 31 May: South Africa vs Kenya

All matches take place at the RFUEA Sports Grounds in Nairobi.

The match against Madagscar on Saturday starts at 13h00 SA time on Saturday and will be broadcast live on Rugbypass.

Stormers left reeling as Connacht spoil emotional Cape Town farewell

Adnaan MohamedNewsLeave a Comment on Stormers left reeling as Connacht spoil emotional Cape Town farewell
By Adnaan Mohamed

What was meant to be a day of tribute and celebration at DHL Stadium ended in bitter disappointment for the Stormers, who slumped to a shock 33-24 United Rugby Championship defeat to Connacht on Saturday.

On an emotionally charged afternoon, the home side honoured long-time team manager Christopher “Chippie” Solomons, who died suddenly from a heart attack last week, while veteran hooker Scarra Ntubeni was set for a fitting farewell in his final appearance in blue and white.

Instead, the occasion turned into a nightmare.

With Solomons’ family receiving warm applause from the 13,903-strong crowd on a cold, wet Cape Town afternoon, the mood before kick-off was heavy with emotion. Tears flowed among players as the Stormers prepared for a match coach John Dobson had described as one “for Chippie”.

By full-time, there was no comfort to be found.

The defeat not only denied the Stormers the chance to climb to the top of the URC table, it also left their play-off ambitions under fresh pressure. Connacht’s first-ever win over the Stormers in Cape Town lifted the Irish side from ninth to sixth, while the hosts remained second.

The Stormers appeared to have done enough when Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu crashed over late in the second half to edge them ahead.

But the match swung dramatically moments later.

A costly error from the restart by replacement lock Ruben van Heerden handed Connacht the opening they needed, with scrumhalf Ben Murphy pouncing for a crucial try in the 71st minute to snatch a 26-24 lead and secure the visitors a bonus point.

Forced to chase the game, the Stormers unravelled.

Their expansive approach in slippery conditions proved costly, with loose passing and poor decision-making repeatedly placing them under pressure. That desperation was punished in the 77th minute when Connacht flyhalf Sean Naughton intercepted to race away for the decisive score.

Dobson admitted afterwards that his side had failed to adapt to the conditions.

“You are 100% correct. Yes, it was very frustrating. We shovelled rubbish out there for quite a bit of time. We did … We did,” he said.

The Stormers coach conceded his side should have played a more territorial game.

“We were loose throughout. There were a couple of patches in the first half that we spoke about where we shuffled it around too much.

“I thought we were very loose. We said at halftime, let’s be more direct and limit the passing on attack.

“But we kept shovelling the ball back repeatedly and conceded a penalty for sealing off.”

Dobson felt the Stormers strayed from a winning blueprint that was already working.

“It felt at times we needed to invent to beat them, when in reality the template was there to do it; we saw it with our mauling getting on top.”

He also pointed to key moments that shifted momentum.

“We had their maul on the ropes, and at one instance we had a quick throw in to Warrick Gelant, but then Damian Willemse threw a forward pass, Connacht got the scrum and ended up scoring.”

The emotional week, Dobson said, could not be used as an excuse, though he acknowledged the impact it had.

“We can’t use Chippie’s thing as an excuse, but it was a helluva week.”

Captain Ruhan Nel echoed his coach’s frustration.

“I felt we did more than enough in that game to put ourselves in the correct positions.

“I felt we defended great at certain times and then there were a lack of concentration due to simple decisions.”

The defeat leaves the Stormers with little room for error heading into a massive clash against the Glasgow Warriors next week, before a demanding two-match tour against Ulster Rugby and Cardiff Rugby.

“Massive… to get nothing out of this game is very disappointing,” Dobson said.

“We now have to win all three to get where we want to be, but that’s much easier said than done.

“We’ve put ourselves in a bit of a position now.”

For the Stormers, a day that began with tribute ended with a bruising reminder that sentiment alone does not win rugby matches.