Dirkie marks her return with a brace

THE SOUTH AFRICAN women’s team romped to a 5-0 victory in their African Hockey Cup of Nations opener against Kenya in Egypt.

While the women opened their account on a winning note the men had a false start after Zambia did not pitch for the encounter.

Chasing their eighth consecutive title, the men need to win the tournament to book their place at next year’s World Cup in India.

The women’s side has already qualified for their 2018 World Cup in London and they will be looking to claim their seventh continental title on the trot.

Their runaway victory over the Kenyans represented some sort of improvement for Kenya compared to their previous meeting two years ago.

In their 2015 encounter, South Africa thrashed the East Africans by 12 points.

It was a dream return for stalwart Dirkie Chamberlain, who scored a brace of goals, as did Candice Manuel (pictured).

Tarryn Glasby also made it onto the scoresheet.

Egypt pose the biggest threat to the men’s hopes and hold a slight edge after beating them 2-1 at the Hockey World League Semi-Final in South Africa in July.

The South African women were set to face Zambia on Wednesday and are likely to have an extra day’s rest while both teams will cross sticks with Nigeria on Monday.