She will extend her Springbok Women record as most-capped prop to 44 Tests, but for Yonela Ngxingolo, it makes no difference if she is doing it off the bench or in the starting team when they take on the USA Eagles at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.
The 28-year-old made her Test match debut way back in 2018, and apart from the odd injury, Ngxingolo has been part of every squad selected for international duty ever since.
She has been a regular starter in the early part of her career, but soon, her ability to scrum on both sides made her a very valuable member of the bench, or as she calls it, the “Blom Squad”.
Come Saturday, she will again add impact off the bench.
“I quickly learned to put personal ambitions aside and put the team first,” said Ngxingolo.
“In the early days, I wanted to start every match, but later came to understand that it is not the end of the world playing off the bench. In fact, for now, I love that I can bring energy and intensity to the team when I am called upon and hope to do the same on Saturday against the USA.”
Originally from East London, Ngxingolo moved to Pretoria to play for the Isuzu Bulls Daisies a couple of years ago, and as such, she also revels in the idea of playing a Test at Loftus Versfeld.
“We have quite a number of the team that are Daisies, so it will be great to play in front of our home fans,” she said.
“We have seen good support for us when we play in the provincial competition, and I have every reason to believe that there will be a good crowd supporting us on Saturday as well.”
They expect a fierce onslaught from the USA side: “They will be hurting after we shocked them last weekend at Ellis Park. That said, we prepared well, and as usual, coach Swys (De Bruin) has some tricks up his sleeve again.
“We will approach the match the same as last week, but there will be a change in some of our plans, and we are all very excited to see how that plays out.”
On her becoming the second most capped player in the women’s game, behind Nolusindiso Booi, Ngxingolo said she is grateful for a relatively injury-free career.
“I never thought of that when I started playing rugby – I just wanted to be in every squad,” she said.
“There are a number of us who started in 2017/18 and are still playing, and we often discuss what a remarkable journey it has been so far. We have improved season after season, and recent results have proved that. Our ambition to become even better is still strong, and personally, I want to go on as long as possible.”
Selected stats:
Most capped Springbok Women:
55 Nolusindiso Booi
44 Yonela Ngxingolo
42 Babalwa Latsha, Sinazo Mcatshulwa
41 Tayla Kinsey
Most points:
Libbie Janse van Rensburg – 219 points (14 tries, 55 conversions, 12 penalty goals, 1 drop goal).
Springbok Women team to face USA in Pretoria:
15 Eloise Webb (Sanlam Boland Dames) – 21 caps, 30 points (6 tries)
14 Jakkie Cilliers (Isuzu Bulls Daisies) – 25 caps, 153 points (11 tries, 40 conversions, 6 penalty goals)
13 Ayanda Malinga (Isuzu Bulls Daisies) – 18 caps, 80 points (16 tries)
12 Aphiwe Ngwevu (Border Ladies) – 34 caps, 80 points (16 tries)
11 Alichia Arries (DHL Western Province) – 6 caps, 20 points (4 tries)
10 Libbie Janse van Rensburg (Isuzu Bulls Daisies) – 31 caps, 219 points (14 tries, 55 conversions, 12 penalty goals, 1 drop goal)
9 Unam Tose (Isuzu Bulls Daisies) – 30 caps, 17 points (3 tries, 1 conversion)
8 Logan Welman (DHL Western Province) – 4 caps, 25 points (5 tries)
7 Catha Jacobs (Golden Lions Women) – 27 caps, 5 Points (1 try)
6 Sizophila Solontsi (Isuzu Bulls Daisies) – 32 caps, 45 points (9 tries)
5 Danelle Lochner (Harlequins Women) – 23 caps, 10 points (2 tries)
4 Vainah Ubisi (Isuzu Bulls Daisies) – 23 caps, 25 points (5 tries)
3 Babalwa Latsha (captain; DHL Western Province) – 41 caps, 40 points (8 tries)
2 Micke Gunter (Leicester Tigers) – 17 caps, 5 points (1 try)
1 Sanelisiwe Charlie (Isuzu Bulls Daisies) – 31 caps, 10 points (2 tries)
Replacements:
16 Anushka Groenewald (DHL Western Province) – 7 caps, 0 points
17 Yonela Ngxingolo (Isuzu Bulls Daisies) – 43 caps, 20 points (4 tries)
18 Nombuyekezo Mdliki (Border Ladies) – 12 caps, 5 points (1 try)
19 Nomsa Mokwai (DHL Western Province) – 16 caps, 0 points
20 Lerato Makua (Isuzu Bulls Daisies) – 19 caps, 20 points (4 tries)
21 Sinelitha Noxeke (Isuzu Bulls Daisies) – 6 caps, 0 points
22 Anacadia Minnaar (EP Queens) – 5 caps, 3 points (1 penalty goal)
23 Maceala Samboya (Sanlam Boland Dames) – 7 caps, 20 points (4 tries)