Ladies’s rugby has suffered a devastating loss as former Springbok Ladies’s captain Lusanda Dumke handed away on the age of 28 following a battle with a uncommon gastric most cancers.
The Blue Bulls Firm confirmed the information concerning the ‘Heartbeat of the Bulls Daisies’ in a press release launched on Tuesday, 16 December 2024.
Dumke has been a key drive within the Pretoria-side’s success. As captain, she shortly turned a favorite amongst followers and has been a driver within the union’s success in changing into the highest girls’s rugby group in South Africa.
For the reason that franchise’s inception in 2023, she has led the group to a historic three consecutive Ladies’s Premier Division titles, together with the 2025 championship. She made 31 appearances for the Daisies throughout her tenure.
She took a step again from rugby in August this 12 months, citing medical causes.
Thando Manana, Head of Excessive Efficiency and Particular Tasks on the Blue Bulls Firm, paid tribute to the late captain within the group’s assertion.
“Lusanda was greater than a captain; she was the heartbeat of our Daisies group and a real inspiration to everybody on the Bulls and in South African sport. To realize what she did by the age of 28, main a group to a three-peat and captaining her nation, is solely phenomenal.”
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“Her battle in opposition to most cancers mirrored her toughness on the sphere; she fought until the top. Her legacy of resilience and success will without end outline this period of girls’s rugby in South Africa. We’ve misplaced a valuable, uncommon gem, and our ideas are along with her household.”
Teammate on the Bulls and Springbok Ladies, Libbie Janse Van Rensburg, shared a heartfelt publish on Instagram the place she spoke about how particular Dumke was to her.
“My coronary heart is damaged this morning. I used to be lucky sufficient to expertise the sunshine and vitality that you simply shared with the world. Sharing the sphere with a legend and co-captaining the Daisies. Within the robust occasions, you supplied knowledge and readability, and you’ve got left a gap in girls’s rugby that would by no means be crammed. A real inspiration, a legend, and an incredible good friend. You’ll be without end missed, Durra. RIP Lusanda Dumke.”
The Bulls Daisies took house the Staff of the Yr gong on the 2024 gsport Awards. Dumke and her group have been celebrated for his or her excellence in girls’s rugby. The group chief spoke to SABC Sport after that triumph on the Wanderers Membership.
“We’re excited; the group did rather well. We thank everybody that has been doing the job behind the scenes, ranging from the coach, from workplaces and naturally Mr (Thando) Manana who trusted us with the whole lot he had. So we thank everybody, and we hope that we are going to proceed doing properly.”
On the worldwide entrance, Dumke was a drive to be reckoned with, since making her Take a look at debut in 2018, she turned an everyday within the group. In 2022, Dumke was a member of the Springbok Ladies’s squad that participated within the Ladies’s Rugby World Cup in New Zealand. She was the recipient of the SA Rugby’s Ladies’s Rugby Participant of the Yr in 2022. She performed 33 Assessments and captained South Africa 3 times. She additionally represented the Springbok Ladies’s Sevens group. Her final Take a look at was in opposition to Italy in WXV 2 in Cape City in 2024. She scored 10 tries in her Take a look at profession.
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SA Rugby President Mark Alexander supplied his condolences on the large lack of Dumke.
“Lusanda might be remembered not solely as a former captain of our Springbok Ladies’s group, but additionally as a logo of braveness, management, and resilience far past her years,” stated Mr Alexander.
“She performed the sport with coronary heart and humility, all the time giving the whole lot she had for her group. Her work ethic, toughness, and selfless dedication set the usual, and he or she led by instance each time she stepped onto the sphere.”
“Even within the face of immense private problem, she carried herself with dignity and power, inspiring these round her on and off the sphere. Her legacy lives on within the lives she touched, the instance she set, and the pleasure with which she represented her group and nation.
“On behalf of SA Rugby, we lengthen our deepest condolences to the Dumke household, family members, buddies, and teammates on the unhappy passing of Lusanda. Dropping somebody so younger to most cancers is heartbreaking, and our ideas are with all who liked and supported her by means of her journey. Might you discover power, consolation, and peace throughout this tough time.”
Worldwide referee Aimee Barrett-Theron additionally expressed her disappointment after the lack of Dumke on Instagram.
“Extremely unhappy information… Relaxation in Peace Lusanda Dumke. Among the best gamers to put on the inexperienced and gold.”
Based on her assertion, launched by her franchise, funeral preparations might be made public by the household in the end.
Foremost Picture Caption: Ladies’s rugby has suffered a devastating loss as former Springbok Ladies’s and Bulls Daisies captain Lusanda Dumke handed away on the age of 28 following a battle with a uncommon gastric most cancers. Picture: Sachin du Plooy-Naran / gsport
Picture 2 Caption: The lack of the charismatic rugby participant at such a younger age has shaken the group. Picture: Gallo Photographs through SA Rugby
Picture 3 Caption: The previous captain Lusanda Dumke and Bulls Daisies members have fun the group’s 2024 Staff of the Yr Award. Picture: Paul Mukwevho / gsport
