Mandisa Williams committed to assuring every Bull Daisie’s worth

South Africa's sole professional women's rugby side, as expected, is stacked with national team players – 14 of whom were part of the Springbok Women that won the Rugby Africa Women's Cup in Madagascar last month.

Regardless of playing levels, Williams says they are continuously reassuring athletes of their worth.

"That one [keeping a balance in the squad] is very tough, because when the Springboks arrived, you could see the girls were scared because they tend to shy away from practice," admitted Williams.

"But as soon as we had a word with the rest of the girls, [saying] that, 'Kate, you play the same style of rugby as Lusanda [Dumke] – yes, you're not a Springbok, but in the camp we don't have a Springbok setup, we only have Daisies so there's no need to shy away.'

"'Put as much effort as whoever is coming from the top, so that when it comes to team selection, if your hand is up and you're ready mentally, you may always have an opportunity.'"

While most rugby teams have a captain supported by a few players – one up front and one on the backline, the Daisies could field a team consisting entirely of leaders. 

"There's Anathi Qolo, Asithandile Ntoyanto, Rumandi Potgieter, Sizophila Solontsi – she was captain at The Sharks, with the Sevens side in Cape Town, and we also have Sinelitha Noxeke, who was with the under-20 group last year," she listed.

"So, we've mixed youngsters and leaders of previous premier division teams, of which Lusanda's coming from now in the Eastern Cape, and Libbie [Janse van Rensburg] has been a leader for the Blue Bulls Rugby Ladies, and it's working very well for us."