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Fifteen Springbok Women Sevens players have been awarded national contracts for the first time in its history.
The group includes star players Zenay Jordaan and Lorinda Brown from Eastern Province and Mathrin Simmers from SWD who participated in the 2013 Rugby World Cup Sevens in Moscow - as well as the 15-a-side Rugby World Cup qualifier against Uganda last season.
Also receiving national contracts were Phumeza Gadu from Eastern Province and Funiswa Plaatjie from Border.
The contracts were handed out on Wednesday as the SA Women Sevens team prepares for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
Saru's general manager of High Performance, Rassie Erasmus said he was excited about the decision to contract an elite group of players and believes it will inspire more women to take up the sport with the aim of becoming professionals.
Erasmus was also delighted about the residential programme, which involved 16 players being housed in Port Elizabeth, as it
provided an ideal environment for the players to train and bond off the field.
"The residential programme, which was introduced last year, has already started bearing fruit as the South African Select Women's Sevens team finished as runners-up in the Dubai international invitational tournament in November last year, and hopefully the team will build on that performance this year," said Erasmus.
"In the past, our women players had to train on their own and then assemble in short camps before matches, which was not
conducive to consistent quality performances. These initiatives have definitely changed the face of women's rugby."
