South Africa’s male rugby sevens team, featuring three University of Johannesburg (UJ) student-athletes, reached the FISU World University Championship Rugby Sevens final in France unbeaten. The SA gents lost just one match (the final) to the host nation (France) with a 22-15 final scoreline.

The championship took place on 10 and 12 June 2024.

Meanwhile, the women’s team – with two UJ student-athletes – finished in sixth position after winning half and losing half of their matches.

The UJ male student-athletes featured flyhalf Rowen Malgas, Sfiso Dhlamini and Meyer Kriel, with coach Patrick Ross-Allen at the helm. Fatouma Yalcoue and Ntsako Mbambo played for the South African female team under the stewardship of coach Bongiwe Nhleko. The UJ players’ selection for Team SA came after the players made an impressive showing as they crisscrossed the country during the 2024 FNB Varsity Cup tournament with the UJ men’s and women’s senior teams.

“The South African teams went to France to compete for top finishes. This was evident in the results that came out of the matches they played against the world’s best student teams with the men’s team finishing as runners-up and the ladies finishing in sixth place. We are extremely proud because their performances reflect how our UJ rugby programme develops players who can compete at the highest level of university sport,” says Bongani Mashiya, Manager: UJ Rugby Club.

During the championship, the male team cruised through their games winning against Argentina (91-14), Singapore (72-0), Spain (20-0) and Poland (57-0). The South African women’s team started on the back foot with a 24-12 loss to Spain, but soon regained their strength with a 24-10 win against Mexico and 10-5 win against Poland. The ladies went on to loss 24-0 against Japan and France (24-05).

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