Some scorelines sit in the record book like a stone in your shoe. For the Bok Women, 37-0 is one of them: the only time they have ever played Ireland, and they did not score a point. On Saturday afternoon in Athlone, with a new captain and a crowd that has made this ground feel like home, they finally get a chance to answer it. This Springbok Women v Ireland preview starts there, because it is a fixture two decades in the making.
| Quick facts | |
|---|---|
| Match | Springbok Women v Ireland, WXV Global Series, first Test |
| Date | Saturday 24 October 2026 |
| Kick-off | 15:00 SAST (14:00 Irish time) |
| Venue | Athlone Stadium, Cape Town |
| Referee | Jess Ling (Australia) |
| Captains | Sizophila Solontsi (South Africa); Erin King leads Ireland’s squad |
| TV in Ireland | Spórt TG4 |
| Tickets | From R50, Ticketmaster only |
| Second Test | Saturday 31 October, Athlone Stadium |
Springbok Women v Ireland: why this one matters
This is history in the plain sense. SA Rugby calls these the first internationals between the two countries on South African soil, and they form the first Test series the two have ever played. Ireland have never played a Test in South Africa at all. The only previous meeting came in Edmonton, Canada, on 8 September 2006, during that year’s World Cup, and Ireland won 37-0.
It is also the end of the road for 2026. These are the Bok Women’s final two Tests of the year and the last two matches of their WXV Global Series, after a European tour of Wales, Italy and Spain.
And the opponent is exactly the kind South Africa has been asking for. Ireland are fifth in the world and finished third in this year’s Women’s Six Nations. “It’s imperative for our women to play against better-ranked teams than themselves,” chief executive Rian Oberholzer said when tickets went on sale.
South African women’s sport knows what one big day can do: ask anyone who remembers Banyana Banyana winning their first African title in 2022. A first win over Ireland, in front of a Cape Town crowd, would not be a trophy. It would still be a marker.
Team news: Solontsi leads, Latsha out
The week began with a blow. Babalwa Latsha, named captain when the squad was announced on 13 October, will miss the series with an ankle injury, SA Rugby said. She was withdrawn at the end of the training camp in Stellenbosch last Saturday. Our Fluit’s Five of 20 October carried the change on Tuesday.
Sizophila Solontsi, the back-rower with 39 caps, takes the armband for both Tests. Unam Tose, the scrum-half, is vice-captain. Neither is new to leadership: they co-captained the side when South Africa beat Italy 41-29 in Pordenone last month. Now Solontsi leads on her own.
There is a second loss in the forwards. Nombuyekezo Mdliki has not recovered from the rib injury she picked up against Spain earlier this month. SA Rugby has drafted in Thandile Mazwi, whose last Test came off the bench against Fiji in Suva in August, along with an uncapped prop who had been invited to train with the squad.
What we do not have yet is the team. SA Rugby says the matchday 23 will be announced on Thursday, and we will not guess at it. Ireland had not named their side either when we checked on Wednesday morning.
The squad itself is the group that finished the European tour, with two changes. Anacadia Minnaar returns at scrum-half in place of Felicia Jacobs, and Insaaf Levy comes in for the injured Ayanda Malinga. Fluit’s Five flagged the announcement last week. The experience sits up front: SA Rugby’s squad list gives Yonela Ngxingolo 49 caps, Lindelwa Gwala 43 and Aphiwe Ngwevu 39.
“We opted for continuity as we have good momentum from the last couple of matches on tour, hence the call to stay with the same group of players,” co-coach Laurian Johannes-Haupt said when the squad was named. She was just as clear about the visitors. “Ireland are not the fifth-ranked team in the world for nothing,” she said, adding that “they will really test us.”
Cape Town will be well represented. Anushka Groenewald, Logan Welman, Nomsa Mokwai, Alichia Arries and Levy all play their provincial rugby for DHL Western Province, the union whose story runs through our Stormers page.
The Bok Women: upheaval, then a response
It has been a year of change and progress in equal measure. Swys de Bruin, who took the side to a first World Cup quarter-final in 2025, stepped down on 3 September, two days before the Black Ferns Test at FNB Stadium. His assistants, Johannes-Haupt and Franzel September, have run the team as co-head coaches since. They had already led it to the Rugby Africa Women’s Cup title and a clean sweep in Fiji earlier in the year.
The results read like a side learning on the job. The home series against the USA was drawn, the Black Ferns proved too strong in Johannesburg, and the European tour opened with defeat by Wales in Cardiff. Then came the answer: six tries to four in Pordenone, the Bok Women’s first win on Italian soil, and victory over Spain in Seville to finish the trip.
“We are a set piece team, and we went back to our strengths today,” September said after the Italy win. Johannes-Haupt pointed to one weapon in particular: “We were very strong in our set piece today, with our lineout drives in particular a very potent weapon.”
One to watch: Anushka Groenewald comes home
Few players carry the mood of this week better than Anushka Groenewald. The 21-year-old hooker from Brackenfell has 13 caps and has been involved in 10 of the Bok Women’s 11 Tests this year, according to SA Rugby. She has never played at Athlone. SA Rugby’s own preview says she is likely to feature, though nothing is confirmed until Thursday.
“This dream season will go full circle if I am part of the squad to play Ireland on Saturday,” she said. “To play at home will be unreal.”
She knows what the crowd can add. “We have the belief and the will to be victorious and if the crowd also rocks up in numbers to support us, it could be a remarkable afternoon for the Springbok Women,” Groenewald said.
Ireland: Bemand’s tourists, minus two big names
Scott Bemand’s Ireland arrive as the higher-ranked side, but not in their best form. Their autumn opened with a 40-36 home defeat by the USA in Tallaght, a game RugbyPass reports they led by 19 points. Two wins over Japan followed, 31-24 in Galway and 43-19 in Cork, the second outside the official window.
They are without two stars. Aoife Wafer, 23, a Six Nations Player of the Championship according to RugbyPass, and Sam Monaghan were both ruled out of the tour when the IRFU named the squad. Erin King leads the 30-player touring squad, and second-row Ruth Campbell is back from injury.
“I’m really excited to go to South Africa. I’ve never been,” Bemand said, as reported by RugbyPass. On the Bok Women’s style, he was blunt: “They’ve got a physicality, they’ve got a physical presence, and we know that’s coming.” And on how Ireland must respond: “We don’t just want to survive it, we want to thrive in it.”
Where the game will be won
The set piece. Both camps have said it out loud. South Africa built the Italy win on the lineout drive, and Bemand has already warned his forwards about the physical challenge. If the home pack wins the early scrums and mauls, Athlone will feel it.
Ball security and discipline. RugbyPass noted Ireland turning the ball over regularly and giving away more penalties than any coach would like this autumn. Against a side that loves a lineout drive, penalties in your own half are an invitation.
A new voice in charge. Solontsi has shared the job before. On Saturday the calls are hers, with Tose beside her at the base of the scrum.
The crowd. Johannes-Haupt called Athlone “a happy hunting ground for us in recent years and it is a perfect setting for us to close out the season.”
How to watch and what comes next
Kick-off is 15:00 SAST on Saturday, which is 14:00 in Ireland. Irish viewers can watch live on Spórt TG4, the IRFU says. SA Rugby had not confirmed a South African broadcaster in anything we read by Wednesday morning, so check its channels before you settle on the couch. Tickets start at R50, or R150 for a pack of four, and are sold per match through Ticketmaster only.
The sides meet again at Athlone a week later, on Saturday 31 October, to close the series and the Bok Women’s year. After that, the green jersey heads north with the men, whose Nations Championship campaign starts against Italy on 7 November. Our Springboks page tells the story of what that jersey means.
Frequently asked questions
When is Springbok Women v Ireland?
The first Test is on Saturday 24 October 2026 at Athlone Stadium in Cape Town, with kick-off at 15:00 SAST (14:00 Irish time). The two teams play again at Athlone on Saturday 31 October.
Who is captaining the Springbok Women against Ireland?
Sizophila Solontsi captains the side in both Tests, and Unam Tose is vice-captain. Latsha is out of the series with an ankle injury, according to SA Rugby.
Has the Springbok Women team for Ireland been announced?
Not yet. SA Rugby says the matchday 23 will be announced on Thursday 22 October. The squad of 30 was named on 13 October, and Thandile Mazwi and an uncapped prop have since been added as injury replacements.
Where can I watch Springbok Women v Ireland?
In Ireland the match is live on Spórt TG4, according to the IRFU. SA Rugby had not confirmed a South African broadcaster in the sources we checked on Wednesday 21 October. Tickets for Athlone start at R50 through Ticketmaster.
Have the Springbok Women ever beaten Ireland?
No. The teams have met once, at the 2006 World Cup in Edmonton, Canada, where Ireland won 37-0. Saturday’s Test is the first between them on South African soil.