| Date of birth | 8 November 1984 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Place of birth | Jongilanga, South Africa | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Occupation(s) | Commentator | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Mandisa Williams (born 8 November 1984) [1] is a retired women's rugby union player from Jongilanga, Eastern Cape, South Africa. She played for Imonti Penguins, Border Bulldogs and the South Africa women's national rugby union team [2] as a Number 8. [3]
Williams started playing rugby for Jogalanga Women, a club founded by her father, in 1999. [4] When she was 16, she was invited to Border Bulldogs trials and was selected for the team to play in the women's Currie Cup. [2] Shortly afterwards she made her international debut for South Africa in 2004. [4] In 2006, she was awarded the South African Rugby Union's Women's player of the year award [5] after playing in South Africa's first women's World Cup campaign at the 2006 Women's Rugby World Cup. [2]
In 2012, Williams was named as captain of the South Africa women's national rugby sevens team for the inaugural IRB Women's Sevens Series. [6] During the 2014 Women's Rugby World Cup, Williams served as captain however after South Africa's first match, she was banned for 16 weeks for eye-gouging and missed the rest of the tournament. [3] She appealed against this but failed to overturn the ban. [7] Williams retired from rugby in 2016. [8]
Williams studied sports management at Walter Sisulu University. [4] Following retirement, she became a sports commentator. [9]
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