South Africa worldwide Lusanda Dumke has sadly handed away on the age of 29 following a battle with a uncommon most cancers.
Lusanda Dumke main South Africa out of the tunnel. (Picture: Getty Pictures)
South Africa worldwide Lusanda Dumke has tragically handed away on the age of 29 after a battle with a uncommon type of gastric most cancers. The back-rower had taken a break from rugby in August to focus on her well being. Her membership, the Izuzu Bulls Daisies, introduced the heartbreaking information of her demise on Tuesday.
Dumke had been the captain of the franchise since its inception in 2023, steering the crew to a few consecutive Ladies’s Premier Division titles, together with the 2025 championship. She made 31 appearances for the Daisies, whereas additionally enjoying 33 instances for the Springbok girls’s crew, captaining her nation on three events.
Named SA Rugby’s girls’s participant of the yr in 2022, Dumke additionally performed for the Springbok sevens crew.
“Lusanda will likely be remembered not solely as a former captain of our Springbok Ladies’s crew, but additionally as a logo of braveness, management, and resilience far past her years,” mentioned SA rugby president Mark Alexander.
“She performed the sport with coronary heart and humility, at all times giving every thing she had for her crew. 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 he touched, the instance he set, and the satisfaction with which he represented his crew and nation.
“On behalf of SA Rugby, we lengthen our deepest condolences to the Dumke household, family members, associates, and teammates, on the unhappy passing of Lusanda. Dropping somebody so younger to most cancers is heart-breaking, and our ideas are with all who liked and supported her by his journey. Might you discover power, consolation, and peace throughout this tough time.”
Lusanda Dumke of South Africa celebrated after scoring a attempt. (Picture: Getty Pictures)
Dumke started her profession with Border Girls at 18, subsequently making her Take a look at debut in opposition to Wales in Cardiff in 2018.
She first captained the facet in 2021 throughout a two-Take a look at sequence in opposition to Kenya. The next yr, she featured in South Africa’s World Cup squad.
Her ultimate look, the thirty third of her worldwide profession, got here in 2024, with Dumke crossing for 10 tries all through her Take a look at journey.
“Lusanda was greater than a captain; she was the heartbeat of our Daisies crew and a real inspiration to everybody on the Bulls and in South African sport,” mentioned Thando Manana, Head of Excessive Efficiency and Particular Initiatives on the Blue Bulls Firm.
“To realize what she did by the age of 28, main a crew 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 eternally outline this period of girls’s rugby in South Africa. We now have misplaced a treasured, uncommon gem, and our ideas are together with her household.”
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