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| Tukkies Women's Rugby
| |  Posted on Monday 04 February 2008 - 09:58:44 by SiteAdmin | | Placeholder for the Sponsor of our team. Interested Sponsors can contact the team management. Details on the Contacts page
| | |   | | Tuks Women disappoint at Hong Kong Sevens | | Posted on Tuesday 06 April 2010 - 11:53:40 by technical | | After all conspired against the team from Tukkies in the lead up to the tournament, the girls from Tukkies contributed to their own disappointing efforts with poor ball retention and defence.
In the lead up to the tournament Tukkies lost five of their key players. A serious injury kept an exceptional finisher, Annelise Moore on the side line. Added to that two players were threatened by the Blue Bulls Women's team management, that they would be forced out of the national 15's squad if they participated in the event. Yolanda Meiring and Ilse van Staden then withdrew from the squad to ensure that they were not negatively influenced if they participated for Tukkies. Less than a week before the tournament, Pulane Motloung and Onicca Moaga was unexpectedly withdrawn by SARU, after malicious rumours were spread by unknown individuals. This even after SARU initially released these players to Tukkies and organised that the players could pick up their passports from SARU. This also meant that Tukkie entered the tournament with only one recognised sevens forward and without five of their senior players.
In the first match they played against, Kazakhstan, the girls did well and three minutes from time, the teams were drawn at 12 all. The girls lost concentration and conceded two quick tries, losing 24-12 to a team who's 15's squad will take part in the World Cup later this year.
In the second match the girls were totally outplayed by the NZ Aotearoa Maori squad losing 54-0. Poor defensive alignment and a lackluster performance contributed to this poor showing.
In the play-offs for the Bowl competition the girls also performed poorly, with specifically the lack of ball retention and basic mistakes spoiling what could have been a highlight of their rugby careers. The girls lost both matches to two teams one would normally expect them to win with ease.
Although the team did not perform as expected the much weakened team was however relatively competitive and the young players gained valuable experience from the event. It is however sad that these young players had to compete without the valuable guidance of 5 senior players due to petty interference from others, especially a Tukkies aim to develop players at the highest possible levels for the benefit of the national squad.
| | | | | Tuks Women drawn with NZ Maori | | Posted on Wednesday 10 March 2010 - 13:17:21 by technical | | The official draw for the Cable & Wireless Worldwide Hong Kong Women’s Rugby Sevens took place at King’s Park this evening where twelve women’s teams were drawn into four Pools.
The participating teams are:
Arabian Gulf, Aussie Amazons, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Kazakhstan, Malaysia (debut), NZ Aotearoa Maori, Papua New Guinea, Singapore, Thailand, SA Tuks (South Africa debut).
Pool A: Aussie Amazons, Arabian Gulf, Singapore
Pool B: China, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea
Pool C: Thailand, Japan, Hong Kong
Pool D: NZ Aotearoa Maori, Kazakhstan, Tuks (SA)
Article taken from www.blitzbokke.com
| | | | | Gender Equality and Women's Rugby | | Posted on Wednesday 27 January 2010 - 11:46:26 by technical | | The main question is, "Is there such a thing at all?". The answer is of course NO. This is one of the biggest obstacles for the development of the women's game worldwide. The perfect example is the team from Tukkies. Despite their performances even on the international stage, they receive no or very little support from the University rugby club, or from the Blue Bulls Rugby union. Even after finishing in the top four (official placing of equal third) in the International Invitational Women's competition in Dubai in 2009, their budget is still the same as last year, ZERO. The only positive was that the University, after a special request to the controlling body, contributed a portion of the costs to allow the players to go to Dubai. (Even the US national women's team had to contribute to their own air-fares!)
The women put in a lot of work and they don't get rewarded for their efforts. In 2009 the Tuks ladies team started practice in early January. The girls had practice session of one and a half hours each, two or three times a week up to the beginning of December and none of that was rewarded the unions or the clubs. At the same time they also have no privileges regarding gymnasium work and it is only a few that can afford a gym membership. Which also means that the time they spend on the training pitch must include all aspects of conditioning, skills, strategy, etc. While these girls have to work to be able to live. (As an example, seven Tukkies girls were invited to the National training camp in January and at least three had to decline the invitation due to work commitments)
Every year the girls also hear the same empty promises from the union, that "conditions will change", that they "will look after the players", that they "will get something in return for the efforts they put in". But the sad truth is clearly evident in the "Blue Bulls Strategic Plan - 2009-2013", as taken "as is" from their website that there is no workable plan to actually address the inequality. The saddest part of this is that this "strategic plan" is supposed to be for the period up to 2013, which means we can expect absolutely no changes up to then. It is also clear that women are excluded from the "high performance group" and the only functioning high performance group in women's rugby is actually run and funded by the coaches of the Tukkies Women's team in their personal capacity. The coaches pay out of their own pockets for the players transport to and from practices. The coaches pay for other expenses that include training kit and equipment, and transport cost to and from events. If they are lucky the Tukkies women's team receive ONE set of jerseys from the club in a year.
At the same time the IRB and national sporting bodies are making a huge hoo-haa about the sevens game being included in the Olympic Games in 2016, they appear to do very little to promote the women's game. In the Las Vegas International women's event, the women's games are being played on a pitch to the side and only the final is played on the main ground! Even in Dubai, in the UAE, which is supposed to be a predominantly Islamic nation, the women get more exposure on the main pitch.
What is also very evident, is the general negative vibe from the men at the union and club after the achievements of the Tuks Ladies team. The fact that the team was able to perform, as a club team on the international stage, with a ZERO budget appears to be a huge problem in some quarters. What was actually amazing was the exact opposite and positive responses from the international men's sevens teams in Dubai, where positive feedback came from the South African and the Fiji men's teams.
So, we have to ask, "where is the problem then?". As it appears that the public and the men's players accept the participation of women readily. Why are the women then struggling to find support from the administrators. Does the problem lie with the clubs, or the provincial unions, or is it with the national union, or could the problem start at the top, with the IRB? At this stage however there is a lot of finger pointing, but not one single body prepared to take the responsibility. The club blames the union, the union blames the club and the national body, etc, etc... Maybe we should let an "Equality Court" decide? Or should the women break away from the men's game and run their own controlling body?
Written by: Konrad Lotter, the assistant coach/technical advisor.
| | | | | Recruiting new players | | Posted on Monday 18 January 2010 - 08:20:52 by technical | | On Saturday the 16th of January a few mwmbers of the women's team together with head coach Riaan van der Merwe were present at the open day at the Pretoria University main campus. During this yearly event, the Tukkies women's team take the opportunity to introduce the team to new students and recruit new players. For the first time, during this year's event the university vice chancellor and principal, Dr. Cheryl de la Rey, joined a few players and posed for a photograph with a few team members.
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