NEWS: SA Rugby thanked and applauded Lynne Cantwell for her highly successful contribution to the national women’s rugby programme, which blossomed under her guidance since 2021, prior to her return to her native Ireland.
Cantwell, who joined SA Rugby in February 2021 as High-Performance Manager for Women’s Rugby, will join the Irish Rugby Football Union as Head of Women’s Strategy on January 1, 2025.
Her new position will not affect an agreed role to continue as a consultant to the Springbok Women in the build up to the 2025 World Cup.
SA Rugby President, Mark Alexander wished Cantwell well in her new role and thanked her for his contribution over the past four years.
“The impact Lynne has had since she joined SA Rugby to resurrect the women’s programme was phenomenal, to say the least,” said Alexander.
“Our desire and mission to elevate the women’s game was clear, but that was only be made possible by Lynne’s unrelenting passion and vision to get that job done.
“Her vast institutional knowledge of women’s rugby and international reputation opened new avenues for us and showed the way to so many positive outcomes.
“The Springbok Women are on an upwards trajectory in performance and have qualified for the World Cup in England next year, our Springbok Women’s Sevens team in 2024 qualified to play in the World Series and participated in the Olympic Games for the first time, a pinnacle for those playing rugby sevens.
“Our Junior Springbok Women also expanded their player pool with a more streamlined pathway, starting with the Youth Training Centres, the National Girls’ Weeks, a new provincial U20 tournament and the recent international tournament in Stellenbosch, featuring South Africa, Uganda, Zimbabwe and San Clemente Rhinos.”
Alexander also singled out Cantwell’s role in securing international participation and the formalised contracting structure for the national women’s players, all done in a time of personal sacrifice, being away from her family for extended periods.
“We wish her well,” he said.
“As we often say in rugby, you want to leave the jersey behind in a better place and Lynne certainly did that, and more.”
Cantwell said her agreement with the IRFU to maintain a percentage of her time with the Springbok Women until the start of the 2025 Rugby World Cup was very important, and that she will not take on any high-performance responsibilities in her new role until after the global showpiece.
“My family embarked on our journey to South Africa in 2021 fuelled by my passion for women and girls’ rugby,” said Cantwell.
“I am beyond grateful to Charles Wessels and Rassie Erasmus at the time who saw the same vision for the women’s game and who provided me with the opportunity to try to shift the dial on women’s rugby in the country.
“While the path was and still is challenging, the will for progress is breathtaking.
“Although I have given my everything to the game over the four plus years, the staff, players and people I have met through that time have changed me forever.
“I would like to thank Mark Alexander, SA Rugby’s CEO Rian Oberholzer, Dave Wessels and the executive teams at SA Rugby and the provincial unions for the injection of commitment and ambition necessary to accelerate the system build.
“To our national women’s teams’ head coaches, Swys de Bruin and Renfred Dazel, and their management teams, I can only applaud their boundless belief in what their teams can do and the hard work to achieve it.
“And finally, to all the women and girls who play rugby, every day you show us more of what you are capable of, and you will change the future of the game.”
