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Liv Apps: 'It’s good timing for me to experience something new'
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Babalwa Latsha: 'You can come from nothing but that doesn’t mean you are nothing.'
By Joe Harvey
It is hard to say exactly which aspect of her life Babalwa Latsha has excelled in most. Is it as an athlete? Campaigner? Role model? Truth be told, it is most likely a combination of all three.
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It has been almost a decade since she first picked up a rugby ball in earnest while at the University of the Western Cape and turned her attention from field athletics to packing down at scrum time.
Now the 31-year-old is preparing to take part in a second Rugby World Cup with a South Africa team that have made strides to improve on their finish in New Zealand three years ago where they lost every pool game- including tough games against semi-finalists England and France.
This has included formalised contract structure, the introduction of Swys de Bruin as head coach and a greater belief among the playing group, as Latsha explains:
“I’ve been in the system for about a decade, and this is probably the pinnacle of it. It’s been a big honour to be on that journey for so long, and to witness the growth and depth of the squad. I think there’s a lot of improvement in terms of how well the system has been invested in.
“We’ve developed an edge- a competitive edge. There’s just an overall better understanding as to what it means to be a professional athlete. All these factors contribute to the quality of the group that we are now and to where we’re headed.”
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When asked, Latsha can point out one individual who has changed the fortunes of the Springbok Women.
It was almost a reflex for the 31-year-old to reference Lynne Cantwell’s three-and-a-half years work at the coalface as High-Performance Manager for Women’s Rugby.
Still a consultant to the Springbok Women alongside her role at the Irish Rugby Football Union as Head of Women’s Strategy, the 43-year-old former Ireland international is lauded by Latsha.
Because alongside work in the boardroom, Cantwell was able to instil a culture and ethos among the players lucky enough to don a bottle green jersey.
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“That was when the shift became much more amplified and accelerated,” Latsha said. “She’s left a fantastic legacy within our group.
“It’s in the way that we operate and in the way that we carry ourselves. There’s a deeper understanding of what our identity is as the Springbok Women.
“We understand that we come from various different backgrounds, but we are able to have a beautiful melting pot of different cultures and different characters even. We tap into that and embrace that because we are South African.”
Latsha will return to England this August after she ended a two year stay with Premiership Women’s Rugby club, Harlequins.
With South Africa Rugby aiming to bring professional women’s rugby to the country, a process which could provide 150 central contracts in the years to come, there has never been a more exciting time to be a women’s rugby player in South Africa.
During her time in London, the prop made 29 appearances for her club and concluded her time at the Twickenham Stoop with a try in their 32-24 semi-final loss to Saracens.
“I had three fantastic seasons at the Quins,” she said. “I’ll forever cherish the memories and the moments. I found myself a family.
“I felt that it was time for me to come home. It felt natural that I departed purely on my terms. When I feel I can go back again, that conversation can always be had. Who knows, maybe a year or two down the line you’ll see me back in the quarters?
“I had some really great times. I remember my first ever Big Game in 2022 and it was nothing short of phenomenal. The best way to describe it would be a dream that had come true. It just gives me goosebumps thinking about it.”
A return to South Africa will also offer Latsha the chance to focus on some of her passion projects.
Over the years the 31-year-old has been actively involved with a number of charities as either an ambassador or a director.
Her experience as one of the 35 per cent of South African women having to choose between a loaf of bread or sanitary products had led to the former Springbok captain becoming a director of the MENstruation Foundation, who offer free sanitary products to combat period poverty, alongside Laureus and Tendai Mtawarira’s Beast Foundation.
“Being involved in such wonderful organisations, that do such amazing work, with like-minded people and making a positive impact in the lives of young people, it’s extra motivation,” Latsha said.
“Performances on the pitch are far more than just performances. They are, dare I say, an act of defiance. They are acts of inspiration.
“It is a tool for me to be able to express myself, but know that I represent much more than just myself, my club and my country.”
Latsha grew up in the Khayelitsha township. In 2020 it was named as one of the top five largest slums in the world, where it is predicted that between one and three million people live. A stark contrast to the government’s 390,000 estimate.
The township has even been branded as a “no-go” zone because of the high rates of crime.
Over the course of her life the South Africa prop has witnessed violent crime, been held at knife-point, and knew there was more to life than that. For her the turning point was that day at the University of the Western Cape when rugby came into her life.
“I think that’s when my eyes opened up to the world and I started understanding that there’s more to life than just Khayelitsha and becoming another statistic,” Latsha said.
“I grew up in an environment with high crime rates. I hated that. I didn’t want to be a part of that. That was what fuelled that more than anything – a little bit of anger and frustration but also hope for something better.
“Rugby came along at the perfect time, almost as a lifeline for me that I hung on to for dear life. It took me to a brand new place.
“It is my responsibility, as far as I’m concerned, to be a positive point of reference, to say that you can come from nothing but that doesn’t mean you are nothing.”
South Africa begin their World Cup campaign on 24th August at Franklin’s Gardens, Northampton.