Proud Zenay in Sevens heaven
Veteran Jordaan the first woman to play in three World Cups.
National women’s rugby star Zenay Jordaan quietly reached an extraordinary milestone recently which almost went unnoticed – which would have been a travesty. Jordaan appeared in her third Rugby World Cup Sevens tournament in San Francisco to go with a further two Women’s Rugby World Cup 15-a-side tourna- ments. To put this extraordinary feat into prospect, the only male Blitzbok to have played in three World Cup Sevens tournaments is captain Philip Snyman ... and he has never even represented the 15-man Bok team.
Jordaan is in actual fact the first woman to play in three straight Sevens World Cups, but typical of this 27-year-old, she puts the team ahead of personal milestones.
“I heard that I’m the first to have done that, which is great, but for me it’s just about serving our team,” said Jordaan, one of the most experienced players you’ll find on the women’s circuit.
She was recently also nationally contracted by the South African Rugby Union (Saru) as one of just 15 players identified to take the women’s squad forward on their journey to establish more international recognition.
“I really want to thank Saru for coming forward and making such a drastic step, it helps immensely and it proved to us how serious they are about taking woman’s rugby forward on the international scene,” said Jordaan.
Born in Middelburg, Eastern Cape and attending the Middellands Secondary School, it was a big step getting involved in a sport which is traditionally dominated by their more recognised male counterparts, but Jordaan recalls the days when she first identified the sport as something that she really wanted to be associated with.
“I think I was about 14 when I started to play rugby with the boys on the street and it is probably during that time I thought it was a sport I would like to play. The rugby bug really bit me and I don’t regret for one moment that I chose to go in this direction,” she said.
Jordaan is based with the national women’s team at the Stellenbosch Academy of Sport – alongside the men’s national Sevens team.
“My day normally consists of teambuilding and training, but away from the game I followed a course which is called Help in Safety and now I can become a personal trainer,” she said.
Although the women’s team struggled in San Francisco, losing the play-off for 13th place to Brazil, Jordaan says the progress of the team is probably now more important than the results they achieved.
“I’ll be honest, the results were probably not what we were looking for but we have embarked on a journey where we continue to grow and we are not looking back. No way,” she said.
One thing Jordaan is very positive about is that woman’s rugby is receiving much more recognition than was the case a few years back.
“I never felt threatened to be entering a world of sport that was previously a male-dominated event. In fact, we get a lot of assistance from the sporting bodies like Saru and male rugby players. They all just want us to achieve in the sport and catch up to the leading women’s sporting countries in the world,” she added.
It’s been well-documented that New Zealand have held the three major trophies in world rugby – which included the men’s 15-a-side World Cup, the women’s 15-a-side World Cup as well as the men’s Sevens World Cup for men’s Sevens, but Jordaan said they are hell-bent on chasing the pace-setters in world rugby.
“I’m not exactly sure where we rate currently on the international women’s 15s rugby scene, but I know we are rated 13th on the Sevens circuit with all the incentives available to climb further up the ladder,” she said.
Away from rugby Jordaan said it’s also important to keep a balance in life.
“Apart from the studies, which I am very passionate about, I could go out and play a bit of pool and just spend some quality time with a few selected friends,” she said.
And although she initially called herself single and maybe not wanting to commit herself in any specific direction, she did concede she has a special friend.
“I do have a boyfriend, but no, marriage is not at this stage part of the deal,” she chirped.
I think I was about 14 when I started to play rugby with the boys on the street and it is probably during that time I thought it’s a sport that I would like to play. Zenay Jordaan