By Leah Falcon
Varsity Cup season is upon us in a wave of maroon and the Maties Women’s Rugby Team is set to defend their title as the 2025 champs. This year comes with the additional excitement of the team vying to become the first women’s team with back-to-back wins for Women’s Varsity Cup.
Maties Women played their first game on Friday, 6 March, at the Danie Craven Stadium against the University of Fort Hare, the 2024 winners. The side began their preparation for this season of Varsity Cup long before most students had begun to conceptualise an end to the never-ending summer holidays. On 5 January, Maties Women began their pre-season camp. Their training has not stopped since.
In an interview with Die Matie, team captain Sesethu Dumke (second-year BA (Humanities) student), explained the extent of the team’s preparation for the 2026 season. The training for the senior players began in October 2025, with the players continuing fitness individually over the summer holidays. Maties Women’s Rugby assembled on 5 January 2026, for the week-long pre-season training camp in George, including both senior players and incoming players. Players returned together after the camp to the stillness of Stellenbosch in January and have continued training into the start of lectures.
Women’s Rugby first team coach, Aneesah Adams, commented to Die Matie, that this year has seen “a healthy integration of new players […] slightly more than in previous seasons”. Dumke welcomes this new influx, explaining, “The game will be totally different.” Adams explained that the team consists of around 30 players, chosen for their “coachability, tactical awareness, physical readiness and how players contribute to [the] environment”.
The importance of this intensive training is used not only to improve skills and fitness, Dumke explained, but “to build our connections as a team”. Team culture was similarly identified by Adams as one of the key focus areas for 2026, along with breakdown efficiency and defensive connectivity.
In fact, it was the team culture that made Dumke fall in love with the Maties Women’s Rugby side in 2023, when she watched the team win the first-ever Varsity Cup Women’s trophy. “I wanted to be in this team,” she explained. “The ladies fought for each other and they showed love amongst each other on that field.” Three years later and as team captain, Dumke is prioritising the continuance of this culture, one where they “emphasise unity, compassion and respect for one another”. She said, “Pressure on game days can challenge us mentally. Those connections are what make us get through that.”
Dumke continued this sentiment when asked what advice she would share with other players: “When you’re on the field, don’t try to be the best player in the team. Be the best player for the team.”
2026 has also brought changes to the rules of Varsity Cup, notably the innovation of a “tap-try” option. The official statement from Varsity Cup stated, “After a try, the scoring team has 20 seconds to choose: kick for a standard [two]-point conversion or tap to activate a 120-second tap period to chase an additional 5 points.” Adams explained that this will “encourage teams to think strategically about risk versus reward,” with Dumke adding, “It makes the game very exciting for me.” Spectators are sure to see a shift in momentum in the games and the Maties Women are accepting this exciting evolution of the game head-on.
The fanatic rugby culture in Stellenbosch is fuelling the growing support for the women’s game, Adams observed. “Turnout continues to improve each season, which reflects the progress of women’s rugby nationally.” Commenting specifically on Stellenbosch University’s (SU) support, she said, “There has been clear growth in institutional support for women’s rugby, such as performance services, financial resources and academic monitoring.” Dumke noted that this can be seen in SU’s funding of their pre-season camp and in provision of accommodation on their return to Stellenbosch for students not yet able to move into their residences. SU’s investments into the sport see their return in the increasing amount of new players that the team saw this year. Adams noted, “While structures are improving, there are still differences compared to the men’s programme, but the trajectory is positive. The key focus now is continued investment and visibility to ensure sustained competitiveness and development pathways for female athletes.”
