Cape Town, South Africa (PANA) –  South Africa’s two-time Rugby World Cup-winning Springbok captain Siya Kolisi has been named in TIME Magazine’s list of the 100 most influential people in the world for 2024. The legend made history last year when he became only the second man to lead a country [...]
©- - 19 april 2024 - 12:41:19 - thread Sports (205 words)


Cape Town, South Africa (PANA) – South Africa’s rugby hero Siya Kolisi has been nominated for the Laureus World Comeback of the Year Award, while the national World Cup winning squad has been nominated for Team of the Year. Kolisi's heroic performance role in securing South Africa its second consecutive World [...]
©- - 29 february 2024 - 10:19:33 - thread Sports (273 words)


Cape Town, South Africa (PANA) – South Africa on Friday commemorated the country’s historic 2023 Rugby World Cup Final victory with a national public holiday. Following the Springboks’ record-breaking fourth World Cup title victory in Paris in October, President Cyril Ramaphosa declared 15 December a public holiday. He said it is [...]
©- - 15 december 2023 - 07:47:59 - thread Sports (206 words)


Cape Town, South Africa (PANA) – South Africa’s Rugby World Cup champions, the Springboks, on Thursday began a four-day nationwide tour in Pretoria, with President Cyril Ramaphosa welcoming them back from France where they clinched the title. In possibly the most thrilling final ever South Africa on Saturday edged New Zealand [...]
©- - 02 november 2023 - 09:28:53 - thread Sports (218 words)


Cape Town, South Africa (PANA) – South Africa’s star rugby player Bongi Mbonambi could miss Saturday's Rugby World Cup final against New Zealand after he allegedly used a racial slur against England flank Tom Curry in Saturday's semi-final in Paris. In videos and audio clips Curry was heard telling referee Ben [...]
©- - 23 october 2023 - 12:00:19 - thread Sports (180 words)


Cape Town, South Africa (PANA) – There is major interest in the rugby hero Siya Kolisi’s official biography which unpacks his battles with poverty and alcohol before he became South Africa’s first black national rugby captain. In the book, Rise, Kolisi reflects of his tough upbringing in the township near Gqeberha, [...]
©- - 05 october 2021 - 12:58:28 - thread Sports (347 words)


Cape Town, South Africa (PANA) – Siya Kolisi, the first black captain of South Africa’s national rugby team, has confirmed that his widely-anticipated autobiography, entitled Rise, will be released in September. In May 2018, Siya Kolisi was appointed captain of the Springboks, becoming the first black captain in the team's 128-year [...]
©- - 06 may 2021 - 08:39:35 - thread Sports (285 words)


Cape Town, South Africa (PANA) - Burkina Faso Rugby Union will host this year’s Rugby Africa Cup Repechage in the capital, Ouagadougou, from 5 to 13 June, with four teams taking part in a round robin tournament over three match days, the sport governing body, Rugby Africa, confirmed in Cape [...]
©- - 22 april 2021 - 10:13:29 - thread Sports (437 words)


Cape Town, South Africa (PANA) – Police have confirmed the death of Muzilikazi Manyike, a former South African Schools rugby football captain who had a glittering career ahead of him. The 20-year-old's body was positively identified by his family at the Garankuwa police station on Monday but the cause of death [...]
©- - 16 february 2021 - 14:27:20 - thread Sports (147 words)


Nairobi, Kenya (PANA) - Kenya is among the 24 teams invited to the Rugby 7s high-performance preparation tournaments in Spain. The invited teams will use the event, hosted by the Spanish Rugby Federation and World Rugby, to prepare for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in July-August. The Tokyo Olympics was postponed to 2021 [...]
©- - 06 february 2021 - 09:52:42 - thread Sports (178 words)


Cape Town, South Africa (PANA) – South Africa’s hugely popular rugby captain Siya Kolisi has been selected as an official Adidas ambassador. Previous sports stars who have enjoyed the honour include Lionel Messi and David Beckham. PANA reports that Kolisi, who grew up in desperate poverty in an Eastern Cape township, lead [...]
©- - 02 september 2020 - 13:54:09 - thread Sports (287 words)


Nairobi, Kenya (PANA) - The Kenya Rugby Union has received 5,000 Euros from Rugby Afrique Solidarity Fund to help vulnerable players cope with the negative effects of coronavirus. The Union said the Fund will help shore up vulnerable players, referees and Union staff. “Through this initiative, KRU will offer support to 25 [...]
©- - 30 august 2020 - 17:21:08 - thread Sports (115 words)


Cape Town, South Africa (PANA) – South African trade union Solidarity has taken aim over Sports Minister Nathi Mthethwa saying he has no right to intimidate or victimise players if they do not back the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement. Mthethwa this week said he has contacted local rugby administrators after [...]
©- - 20 august 2020 - 11:20:36 - thread Sports (339 words)


Dakar, Senegal (PANA) - Rugby Africa (RA), the former African Rugby Confederation (ARC), has cancelled all is competitions, including the Rugby Africa Cup which was due to start on 30 May". RA said the measure was taken last week during an exceptional Executive Committee meeting and in consultation with member federations, [...]
©- - 02 june 2020 - 18:29:10 - thread Sports (286 words)


Cape Town, South Africa (PANA) – The Springboks have won the prestigious World Team of the Year award at the 2020 Laureus Awards in Berlin. The team which won the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan was hailed by the Laureus Academy, which said its triumph “showed the unique power of [...]
©- - 18 february 2020 - 11:01:07 - thread Sports (185 words)


Tunis, Tunisia (PANA) - The Tunisian Maha Zaoui, a member of the Tunisian Rugby Federation (FTR), has been elected general manager of female rugby within the African Rugby Confederation, the FTR said in a press release published Tuesday. FTR member since 2005 in charge of women's rugby, Maha Zaoui will be [...]
©- - 11 february 2020 - 18:22:03 - thread Sports (117 words)


Cape Town, South Africa (PANA) – There could be a cherry on top of South Africa’s rugby captain Siya Kolisi’s fairytale year as he has been nominated for the BBC Sports Star of the Year award. Kolisi, the first black captain in South African history, has been selected alongside Kenyan long-distance [...]
©- - 11 december 2019 - 12:55:51 - thread Sports (248 words)


Dakar, Senegal (PANA)  - The four groups of three teams each for the qualifiers for the Rugby Africa Cup 2020 are now out. Namibia, Zambia and Madagascar are in group A; Kenya, Morocco and Côte d’Ivoire share Group B. Group C includes Senegal, Uganda and Algeria, while Group D is composed of [...]
©- - 05 december 2019 - 21:18:56 - thread Sports (201 words)


Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire (PANA) - Ghanaian men's 15-a-side rugby team qualified for the group stage of the 2020 Rugby Africa Cup, after their 36-25 victory over Botswana on in Elmina on Saturday. The Ghana Eagles team led 19-12 during the first period.  Ghana will face Zimbabwe and Tunisia in Group D [...]
©- - 24 november 2019 - 14:28:02 - thread Sports (106 words)


Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire (PANA) - Côte d'Ivoire's national rugby team qualified for group stage of the 2020 Rugby Africa Cup by beating Rwanda 60-3 on Saturday in Bingerville. The Elephants had eight tries including four converted and four penalties. At half-time, the score was 31-0 for Côte d'Ivoire. For the group stage, [...]
©- - 24 november 2019 - 12:54:36 - thread Sports (119 words)


Cape Town, South Africa (PANA) – Hundreds of thousands of people on Monday took to the streets of Cape Town and its surrounding suburbs and townships as the triumphant Springbok rugby team ended their nationwide tour showing off the World Cup trophy.   The squad returned home following the historic victory against [...]
©- - 11 november 2019 - 13:10:50 - thread Sports (398 words)


Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire (PANA)  - The Kenyan seven-aside rugby team qualified for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan, beating Uganda (29-0) on Saturday at the Rugby Africa Men's Sevens 2019 tournament in South Africa. Zimbabwe, the defending champions, finished third in the tournament after their victory over Madagascar (15-12). Uganda and [...]
©- - 10 november 2019 - 11:15:23 - thread Sports (157 words)


Cape Town, South Africa (PANA) – Tens of thousands of jubilant South Africans have lined the streets of Pretoria, Johannesburg and Soweto to salute the Rugby World Cup champions. The Springboks who thrashed England 32-12 in Tokyo on Saturday have lifted the spirit of the entire nation. They became the only [...]
©- - 07 november 2019 - 11:34:22 - thread Sports (370 words)


Cape Town, South Africa (PANA) – President Cyril Ramaphosa on Monday said the sight of Springbok captain Siyamthanda Kolisi lifting the cup at the Yokohama Stadium in Japan this weekend has filled him with great deal of pride. The Springboks clinched a magnificent 32-12 victory against England in the Rugby World [...]
©- - 04 november 2019 - 14:42:16 - thread Sports (312 words)


Cape Town, South Africa (PANA) – Twenty four years after the historic Mandela Rugby World Cup victory, South Africa’s first black captain on Saturday raised the William Webb Ellis trophy as his nation was crowned rugby world champions again. Siya Kolisi, who grew up in a poor Eastern Cape township, led [...]
©- - 02 november 2019 - 13:58:21 - thread Sports (345 words)


Cape Town, South Africa (PANA) – Cape Town has been named as the host city for the 2022 Rugby World Cup Sevens. The announcement was made in Tokyo on Tuesday ahead of the Rugby World Cup Final where South Africa will play England on Saturday. The World Rugby Council decided that Cape [...]
©- - 29 october 2019 - 11:49:56 - thread Sports (256 words)


Tunis, Tunisia (PANA) - The African Ladies Rugby Championship kicked off on Saturday in the Tunisian coastal city of Monastir, where Tunisia, in Group B, beat Mauritius (38-0) and Morocco (31-0). Tunisia will play later against Madagascar.   Reacting to the results of the first two matches, Tunisian Rugby Federation President Aref [...]
©- - 12 october 2019 - 16:00:55 - thread Sports (98 words)


Cape Town, South Africa (PANA) – A bar brawl in a small Western Cape town has caused deep divisions across South Africa and raised concerns that it could derail the country’s Rugby World Cup campaign in Japan. Accusations that Springbok star Eben Etzebeth used a racial slur in a bar in Langebaan [...]
©- - 07 october 2019 - 13:24:35 - thread Sports (274 words)


Cape Town, South Africa (PANA) – History was made on Friday when the Rugby World Cup match between South Africa and Italy was broadcast in space. The entire game was beamed to the International Space Station – which is 400 kilometres above Japan. Tournament organisers arranged the feed for Italian astronaut, and [...]
©- - 04 october 2019 - 12:47:44 - thread Sports (148 words)


Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire (PANA) - The Ivorian Rugby Federation (FIR) on Wednesday announced the appointment of a national technical director, Amon Roger Motchian, and the president of the Young Commission, former international Tidiane Kamara. Mr. Motchian replaces Mathieu Beugré who held the office since 2018. He will have the mission to [...]
©- - 11 september 2019 - 15:35:37 - thread Sports (149 words)


Cape Town, South Africa (PANA) – A day after the Human Rights Commission (HRC) ordered a South African man to pay a US$10,000 fine for a racist video rant, it has launched an investigation into one of the country’s top rugby players who has been accused of racially abusing a man [...]
©- - 30 august 2019 - 09:38:55 - thread Sports (322 words)


Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire (PANA)   -   Rugby Africa, the governing body of the African Rugby, will, with the help of World Rugby, on 9-17 August in Johannesburg host the first qualifications to the women Rugby World Cup to be hosted in 2021 in New Zealand, said a communiqué issued and sent [...]
©- - 08 august 2019 - 22:39:49 - thread Sports (230 words)


Elmina, Ghana (PANA)   -  Nigeria’s Black Stallions beat the Ghana Eagles by 14 points to 12 in the first-ever Ghana-Nigeria Rugby Presidents’ Cup on Saturday in Elmina, some 200km west of the national capital, Accra. Nigeria also managed to take the second spot in the first-ever West Africa Rugby Series (WARS) [...]
©- - 04 august 2019 - 16:44:13 - thread Sports (613 words)


Harare, Zimbabwe (PANA) - Zimbabwe beat Uganda 31-26 in Kampala on Saturday at the ongoing Victoria Rugby Cup. In a match played in Uganda's capital, Kampala, the Zimbabwe men’s national rugby team, the Sables, quickly opened the game with ruthlessness scoring with just 32 seconds on the clock through Takudzwa Kumadiro. Four [...]
©- - 27 july 2019 - 16:32:50 - thread Sports (162 words)


Harare, Zimbabwe (PANA) - The Zimbabwe Sables, the country's national men's rugby team, have named their travelling squad of 24 players ahead of their match in the Victoria Cup against Uganda on Saturday.   The Sables are expected to leave the country to face Uganda on Friday for a match slated for [...]
©- - 25 july 2019 - 15:49:19 - thread Sports (290 words)


Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire (PANA) - Cote d'Ivoire's 15-man rugby squad will Thursday start preparations for the tri-nation tournament involving teams from Ghana and Nigeria, sports sources told PANA. The Ivorian national coach, Bakary Soumahoro, on Wednesday published a list of 26 players selected for camping which will end on July 25. At [...]
©- - 18 july 2019 - 14:21:21 - thread Sports (182 words)


Harare, Zimbabwe (PANA) - Zimbabwe national rugby team, Sables, have announced eight debutants in their squad for their ‘Battle of Zambezi’ match-up against Zambia in the Victoria Cup. This will be the first match for both nations in the tournament that features four nations including Kenya and Uganda. The match will [...]
©- - 12 july 2019 - 10:03:03 - thread Sports (482 words)


Cape Town, South Africa (PANA) – Less than 24 hours after rugby legend James Small suffered a fatal heart attack, Nelson Mandela’s former personal assistant has revealed how the world statesman helped the sportsman turn his life around. As previously reported by PANA, the rugby legend died on Wednesday at the [...]
©- - 11 july 2019 - 13:03:56 - thread Sports (298 words)


Cape Town, South Africa (PANA) – South Africa’s national rugby star Tendai “Beast” Mtawarira has pulled his autobiography before it hit the book stores after it appears he offended former national coach Pieter De Villiers. He is quoted as saying that De Villiers “was probably fortunate that he was handed a [...]
©- - 03 july 2019 - 08:31:59 - thread Sports (250 words)


Harare, Zimbabwe (PANA) - The Zimbabwe Under-20 Women’s Rugby team lost their second outing to their South African counterparts, 67-10, on Saturday granting the visitors a win at the inaugural bilateral series. Despite putting added impetus to their resistance, the Zimbabwe Under-20 Women’s team succumbed to the dominance of their South [...]
©- - 30 june 2019 - 11:38:14 - thread Sports (434 words)


Harare, Zimbabwe (PANA) - Zimbabwe’s Under-20 Women's Rugby Coach Nsikelelo Sibanda says he was not pleased with the homeside following their loss on Wednesday to their South African counterparts in an ongoing series between the two teams. Zimbabwe is battling South Africa in the ongoing Women's Under 20 series, the first [...]
©- - 27 june 2019 - 11:41:26 - thread Sports (364 words)


Harare, Zimbabwe (PANA) - The Zimbabwe Under-20 national women rugby team has secured three commercial partners, ahead of the historic bilateral series against South Africa's Under-20 Women team in Harare. This will be the Zimbabwe's team first international team, in a two match series at Prince Edward High School, scheduled for [...]
©- - 25 june 2019 - 17:42:58 - thread Sports (642 words)


Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire (PANA)   -   The Rugby Africa Cup (RAC), the new competition of Rugby Africa and confederal body of African rugby, will start next November with the 16 best teams of the continent for a qualification to the 2023 World Cup in France. According to a communiqué sent to PANA, [...]
©- - 15 june 2019 - 16:39:54 - thread Sports (548 words)


Tunis, Tunisia (PANA) - Tunisian Khaled Babbou was on Saturday elected the new president of the African Rugby Confederation (rugby Africa), replacing the Moroccan Abdelaziz Bougja. Mr. Andrew Owor  from Uganda was elected the vice-president. In a statement, Babbou said: "In Africa, we remain united and aim together to perform well." President Khaled [...]
©- - 03 march 2019 - 13:20:37 - thread Sports (155 words)


Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire (PANA) - The confederation of Rugby Africa is organising the first African Rugby summit to be held from 27 February to 2 March in Marrakech, Morocco. According to a received by PANA, the agenda of this summit includes the meeting of the Executive Committee of Rugby Africa, training [...]
©- - 17 february 2019 - 10:48:48 - thread Sports (292 words)


Abidjan, Ivory Coast (PANA) - The African confederation of Rugby unions, Rugby Africa, has approved Côte d'Ivoire's candidacy to host Rugby Zone B Silver Cup tournament in June 2019, according to a communique made available to PANA here on Monday. Ivorian Rugby Federation (FIR) president, Dr. Elvis Tano, has informed the [...]
©- - 24 december 2018 - 15:52:26 - thread Sports (153 words)


Nairobi, Kenya (PANA) - Twelve rugby sevens teams will compete for medals at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. Both the International Olympic Committee and World Rugby confirmed the new development on Wednesday. The twelve, six men and six women's sides will battle for top honours from July 27-August 1 at Tokyo [...]
©- - 19 september 2018 - 11:18:47 - thread Sports (344 words)


Cape Town, South Africa (PANA) – Former South African rugby giant Joost van der Westhuizen has left his mark in Soweto two years after his death. The former Springbok captain, who won the Rugby World Cup final in 1995, lost his battle with motor neuron disease (MND) but his legacy [...]
©- - 07 july 2018 - 06:24:14 - thread Sports (361 words)


Cape Town, South Africa (PANA) – Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu has congratulated Siya Kolisi on his appointment as Springbok rugby captain. Kolisi was this week named as the first black captain of the South African national team on Monday. The Cape Town-based forward player will captain the Springboks for the [...]
©- - 31 may 2018 - 09:16:49 - thread Sports (158 words)