Cecil Afrika's Springbok Women's Sevens 'A' side finished sixth at the 2026 Rugby Africa Women's Sevens Cup in Nairobi, winning three of their six matches but twice surrendering leads against Zambia in results that defined their tournament.
On day one at the RFUEA Grounds, the South Africans opened with a 57-0 demolition of Rwanda — Tereské Kabuika-Ilunga scoring from the kick-off — before beating Zimbabwe 26-10. Their pool form unravelled in the final pool match, however, when they let a 14-0 lead slip against Zambia, conceding a late try to lose 19-14.
The quarter-final against Uganda on Sunday brought a slow start and although the team rallied, they never threatened to overturn a 24-17 defeat. A 48-0 rout of Mauritius in the fifth-place semi-final offered brief encouragement, but the fifth-place final replayed the Zambia scenario almost exactly: leading 12-0 with Zambia reduced to 14 men following a red card, the South Africans again failed to close out the match and lost 17-12.
Hayley Hardneck finished as the squad's leading points scorer with 41 — three tries and 13 conversions. Kabuika-Ilunga scored six tries across the tournament, while captain Vianca Boer dotted down five times.