Northern | US
PWR

Harlequins 'thrilled' to re-sign South Africa's Lochner

EXETER, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 13: Sizophila Solontsi, Danelle Lochner and Babalwa Latsha of South Africa line up during the National Anthems prior to the Women's Rugby World Cup 2025 Quarter Final match between New Zealand and South Africa at Sandy Park on September 13, 2025 in Exeter, England. (Photo by Dan Istitene/Getty Images)
Comments
Comment

South Africa second row Danelle Lochner has re-committed to Harlequins for the 2026/27 Premiership Women’s Rugby season.

ADVERTISEMENT

Since she joined the West London side from Western Province in 2023 the lock has made 26 appearances for the club.

Last season the 28-year-old was a key player for the Twickenham Stoop team as they went back to the PWR semi-finals for the first time in three seasons.

VIDEO

Ross Chisholm, Harlequins head coach, added: “We’re delighted that Danelle has committed to Harlequins again ahead of the 26/27 season. We’ve seen during her time at the club and in international colours, just how good of an operator she is.

“She is superb in the set-piece and an incredibly dynamic player in attack. We’re really excited about seeing her take her game to the next level in our environment and we’re thrilled that she will be wearing the Quarters again next season.”

Lochner was a relative latecomer to rugby after only taking up the sport seriously after the COVID-19 pandemic. Before then the forward was a netball international and represented the Proteas across three years.

At last year’s Women’s Rugby World Cup she was part of the Springboks Women squad that made history in England by reaching the quarter-final stages.

ADVERTISEMENT

It was the first time a South Africa side had graduated from the pool stages and were level at 10-all of their last eight clash with New Zealand’s Black Ferns at half-time.

Related

This season Lochner has seen her time in a Harlequins jersey impacted with injury. After Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025 the lock forward had a six-month wait to get back on the pitch.

The 28-year-old ultimately made her return in PWR against Bristol Bears at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium in Round 16 of the 2025/26 season.

Lochner said: “I am so honoured and happy to have yet another opportunity to represent Quins in the PWR. I can’t imagine playing for a different team and I am really excited to see what next season has in store.”

ADVERTISEMENT

RugbyPass App Download

News, stats, live rugby and more! Download the new RugbyPass app on the App Store (iOS) and Google Play (Android) now!


Whether you’re looking for somewhere to track upcoming fixtures, a place to watch live rugby or an app that shows you all of the latest news and analysis, the RugbyPass rugby app is perfect.

ADVERTISEMENT
Play Video
LIVE

{{item.title}}

Trending on RugbyPass

Comments

0 Comments
Be the first to comment...

Join free and tell us what you really think!

Sign up for free
ADVERTISEMENT

Latest Long Reads

Comments on RugbyPass

Close Panel
Close Panel

Edition & Time Zone

{{current.name}}
Set time zone automatically
{{selectedTimezoneTitle}} (auto)
Choose a different time zone
Close Panel

Editions

Close Panel

Change Time Zone

Close
ADVERTISEMENT
Copied to clipboard

Share Article close