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How girls’ rugby grew in the WP Northern Region in 2026
In 2026, girls across Cape Town’s Northern Suburbs had more ways to get into rugby and more opportunities to keep playing. More than 100 players attended the Northern Region development hub, 12 schools took part in the high school league, and a new primary school sevens series gave U11 and U13 girl
s four festival days. Players from the region also went on to represent Western Province and earn national selections.
The Northern Region development hub
The year began at Parow High School, where girls from different schools came together to train in the U14, U16 and U18 age groups. Attendance registers from January to March record more than 100 players from at least 25 schools, alongside players from clubs and development programmes. Players worked on core skills before moving into positional work, team combinations and match preparation.
The hub gave players a chance to train alongside girls they would later face in school fixtures. It also brought together players from established rugby programmes and schools where girls had fewer opportunities to play. The regional squad programme included a February fixture against Kraaifontein at Parow High School and March 10-a-side squads named for fixtures at Hands & Hearts RFC.
The high school league expands to two age groups
DF Akadmie's Rihanna Adonis and Jessie Schoeman celebrating a victory over Curro Durbanville
In its second season, the WP Northern Region High School Girls Rugby League expanded from one division to two, with dedicated U16 and U19 competitions. The season report’s results tables record 19 teams in the results tables and 61 matches with scorelines. Eight U16 teams accounted for 21 of those matches, and 11 U19 teams accounted for the other 40. Fixtures were played primarily in a 10-a-side format from April to August.
DF Akademie set the standard with a 100% record in both divisions. They won all six of their recorded U16 matches and all eight at U19, finishing the league unbeaten in both age groups.
The Fairmont–Edgemead derby was one of the season’s most anticipated fixtures. Fairmont had launched its girls’ rugby programme earlier in the year, and the derby gave both schools a chance to bring that rivalry to the girls’ game. Edgemead won 25–0 at U16, then edged Fairmont 26–19 in a closely contested U19 match. Fairmont also went on to earn a 20–10 U19 win over Bellville Technical High School in its debut season.
Parow High School became a formidable opponent. Building on the programme’s first season in 2025, Parow’s U16s won four of their five recorded matches, including a tight 19–15 win over Curro Delft. The U19s edged league newcomers Curro Durbanville 12–7 and drew 12–12 with a strong Bosmansdam side. Those close results showed how far Parow had come in a year.
Bosmansdam, Curro Durbanville and Curro Delft also stood out at U19 level. Bosmansdam beat Curro Durbanville 24–17 and Curro Delft 27–12, while Curro Durbanville edged Curro Delft 19–14. Bellville South High School, Bellville Technical High School, Elsies River High School, Excelsior Secondary School and President High School rounded out the 12-school league.
DF Akademie’s Megan Abrahams led the U16 scoring charts with 120 points, including 10 tries and 35 conversions. At U19 level, the report lists Bosmansdam’s Camile Carls as the leading points scorer with 124 points, while teammate Nommah Sandifolo led the try rankings with 24 tries.
A first season of primary school sevens
Edgemead Primary School girls in a team photo with Edgemead HS girls who came to support.
The inaugural Primary School Girls Rugby Sevens Series gave younger players four opportunities to represent their teams in a festival setting. Laerskool Totius, Edgemead Primary, Bellville Primary and Excelsior Primary each hosted a round. Girl Power Academy also took part, bringing the series to five participating programmes and seven team entries across the two age groups.
Bellville Primary, Edgemead Primary and Excelsior Primary featured in the U11 fixtures. Laerskool Totius, Bellville Primary, Excelsior Primary and Girl Power Academy featured at U13 level. Hosting across four schools gave families several opportunities to watch and gave players a regular set of fixtures before the move to high school rugby.
Player selections and representative honours
WP Players 2026
Western Cape U15 Girls. Ava Heydenreych and Luana Ferreira, who both played for DF Akademie and Up and Under Rugby Club, represented the Western Cape at the 2026 South African National School Sport Championships (SANSSC) Winter Games in KuGompo City. The Western Cape girls’ rugby team won gold.
Western Province Girls Week. Megan Abrahams (DF Akademie) and Laghan de Jongh (Fairbairn College, played for DF Akademie) represented Western Province at U16 level. At U18 level, Jessie Schoeman (DF Akademie) captained a side that also included Alicia de Klerk and Gabriella Sefoor (both Brackenfell High School pupils who played for DF Akademie), Zoë Antonie (Kasselsvlei Comprehensive High School, played for DF Akademie), Charlize Langeveldt (Protea Heights Academy, played for DF Akademie), Mia Kanka (Rustenhof Secondary School, played for DF Akademie), Shanelia Heugh (Bellville Technical High School) and Nommah Sandifolo (Bosmansdam High School). Western Province finished unbeaten at both tournaments.
SA Schools Girls. Jessie Schoeman, Mia Kanka, Nommah Sandifolo and late call-up Zoë Antonie featured in the inaugural SA Schools Girls squad, with Alicia de Klerk named in SA Schools Girls ‘A’. Charlize Langeveldt and Shanelia Heugh also earned initial SA Schools selection before withdrawing through injury.
National development. Megan Abrahams and Laghan de Jongh were selected for SA Rugby’s U16 Girls Elite Player Development camp.
SA Rugby U17 Girls EPD. Mia Kanka and Magriet de Klerk, who both played for DF Akademie this season, were selected for SA Rugby’s U17 Girls Elite Player Development camp, scheduled for 28 November to 4 December 2026.
SA U18 Girls. In November, Alicia de Klerk, Shanelia Heugh, Nommah Sandifolo and Jessie Schoeman were named in the SA U18 Girls squad for the series against the Netherlands.
Tag Rugby national colours. Amy Barnes (Curro Durbanville), Charné Jupp and Hlumani Mtwana (both Edgemead High School) earned national colours in Tag Rugby and represented South Africa with the TagBoks Women at the 2026 ITF Tag World Cup in Coffs Harbour, Australia.
What 2026 made possible
The sevens festivals gave primary school girls an early opportunity to play for a team. The high school league gave them a competition to grow into, and the hub gave players from different schools a place to develop together and be considered for regional selection. Having all three in place means a player can begin with a local festival and see where the game could take her next.
Up and Under (Pty) Ltd and Up and Under Rugby Club jointly served as custodians of the WP Northern Region girls’ rugby programme in 2025 and 2026. In that role, we coordinated hub training and regional squads, worked with schools to organise league fixtures, and helped launch the primary school series. Thank you to the Western Province Rugby Football Union for its support, to Parow High School for hosting the hub, and to the schools, coaches, referees, team managers, families and players who made the season possible.
Looking ahead to 2027
The Up and Under Foundation will take over custodianship in 2027. The priorities are to keep schools involved, help developing teams field sides consistently, and give more primary school girls a chance to play. Forfeited fixtures and uneven scorelines showed where schools could use more support. Working with Western Province and participating schools on coaching, equipment and referee appointments will help turn more scheduled fixtures into games the girls get to play.
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