{"id":94360,"date":"2025-12-16T16:42:28","date_gmt":"2025-12-16T16:42:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/rugby-world-mourns-lusanda-dumkes-passing"},"modified":"2025-12-16T17:04:16","modified_gmt":"2025-12-16T17:04:16","slug":"rugby-world-mourns-lusanda-dumkes-passing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/rugby-world-mourns-lusanda-dumkes-passing","title":{"rendered":"Rugby World Mourns Lusanda Dumke’s Passing"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – South-Africa. <\/strong><\/span>Mark Alexander, President of SA Rugby, has paid tribute to former Springbok Women\u2019s captain Lusanda Dumke, who passed away in East London in the early hours of Tuesday morning. Dumke, 29, had been battling a rare form of gastric cancer.<\/p>\n

A stalwart of the game, Dumke was named SA Rugby\u2019s Women\u2019s Player of the Year in 2022. Over the course of her distinguished career, she earned 33 Test caps and captained South Africa on three occasions. She was also a prominent representative of the Springbok Women\u2019s Sevens team.<\/p>\n

\u201cLusanda will be remembered not only as a former captain of our Springbok Women’s team, but also as a symbol of courage, leadership, and resilience far beyond her years,\u201d said Alexander.<\/p>\n

Lusanda Dumke passed away on Tuesday, 16 December 2025. Dumke was SA Rugby\u2019s Women\u2019s Rugby Player of the Year in 2022, played 33 Tests and captained South Africa three times. Picture: @WomenBoks\/X.<\/p>\n

A LEGACY OF LEADERSHIP<\/b><\/p>\n

Alexander noted that Dumke played the game with “heart and humility,” consistently setting a high standard for her teammates through her work ethic and selfless commitment.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven in the face of immense personal challenge, she carried herself with dignity and strength, inspiring those around her on and off the field,\u201d Alexander continued.<\/p>\n

\u201cHer legacy lives on in the lives she touched, the example she set, and the pride with which she represented her team and country.\u201d<\/p>\n

On behalf of the national federation, Alexander extended condolences to the Dumke family, friends, and teammates.<\/p>\n

\u201cLosing someone so young to cancer is heartbreaking, and our thoughts are with all who loved and supported her through her journey.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lusanda Dumke passed away on Tuesday, 16 December 2025. Dumke was SA Rugby\u2019s Women\u2019s Rugby Player of the Year in 2022, played 33 Tests and captained South Africa three times. Picture: @WomenBoks\/X.<\/p>\n

CAREER HIGHLIGHTS<\/b><\/p>\n

Born on 11 September 1996, Dumke\u2019s rugby journey began at the provincial level. She made her debut for the Border Ladies in 2015 at just 18 years old.<\/p>\n

Test Debut: 2018 against Wales in Cardiff.<\/p>\n

National Captaincy: First led the team in 2021 against Kenya; also captained the side against Australia in 2024.<\/p>\n

World Stage: Member of the 2022 Rugby World Cup squad in New Zealand, appearing in matches against France, Fiji, and England.<\/p>\n

Sevens Success: Represented South Africa in the 2019 and 2022 Sevens circuits, including a title-winning campaign at the Rugby Africa Women\u2019s Sevens Cup in Tunisia.<\/p>\n

Domestic Titles: Captained both Border and the Isuzu Bulls Daisies to provincial championships.<\/p>\n

Dumke\u2019s final Test appearance was against Italy during the WXV 2 tournament in Cape Town in 2024. She concluded her international career with a total of 10 Test tries.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About South-Africa<\/span> Follow Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – South-Africa. Mark Alexander, President of SA Rugby, has paid tribute to former Springbok Women\u2019s captain Lusanda Dumke, who passed away in East London in the early hours of Tuesday morning. Dumke, 29, had been battling a rare form of gastric cancer. A stalwart of the game, Dumke was named SA Rugby\u2019s Women\u2019s Player […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":94359,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,17],"tags":[275],"class_list":["post-94360","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-sport","tag-south-africa-2"],"yoast_head":"\nRugby World Mourns Lusanda Dumke's Passing - South Africa<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Mark Alexander, President of SA Rugby, has paid tribute to former Springbok Women\u2019s captain Lusanda Dumke, who passed aw ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/rugby-world-mourns-lusanda-dumkes-passing\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Rugby World Mourns Lusanda Dumke's Passing\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Mark Alexander, President of SA Rugby, has paid tribute to former Springbok Women\u2019s captain Lusanda Dumke, who passed aw ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/rugby-world-mourns-lusanda-dumkes-passing\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"South Africa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-12-16T16:42:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-12-16T17:04:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2025\/12\/sm_1765891935.576486.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"630\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/rugby-world-mourns-lusanda-dumkes-passing#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/rugby-world-mourns-lusanda-dumkes-passing\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Rugby World Mourns Lusanda Dumke’s Passing\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-12-16T16:42:28+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-12-16T17:04:16+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/rugby-world-mourns-lusanda-dumkes-passing\"},\"wordCount\":453,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/rugby-world-mourns-lusanda-dumkes-passing#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2025\/12\/sm_1765891935.576486.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"South-Africa\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"sport\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/rugby-world-mourns-lusanda-dumkes-passing#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/rugby-world-mourns-lusanda-dumkes-passing\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/rugby-world-mourns-lusanda-dumkes-passing\",\"name\":\"Rugby World Mourns Lusanda Dumke's Passing - South Africa\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/rugby-world-mourns-lusanda-dumkes-passing#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/rugby-world-mourns-lusanda-dumkes-passing#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2025\/12\/sm_1765891935.576486.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-12-16T16:42:28+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-12-16T17:04:16+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"description\":\"Mark Alexander, President of SA Rugby, has paid tribute to former Springbok Women\u2019s captain Lusanda Dumke, who passed aw ...\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/rugby-world-mourns-lusanda-dumkes-passing#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/rugby-world-mourns-lusanda-dumkes-passing\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/rugby-world-mourns-lusanda-dumkes-passing#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2025\/12\/sm_1765891935.576486.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2025\/12\/sm_1765891935.576486.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":630,\"caption\":\"Rugby World Mourns Lusanda Dumke's Passing\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/rugby-world-mourns-lusanda-dumkes-passing#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Rugby World Mourns Lusanda Dumke’s Passing\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/\",\"name\":\"South Africa\",\"description\":\"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\",\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"cfeditoren\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Rugby World Mourns Lusanda Dumke's Passing - South Africa","description":"Mark Alexander, President of SA Rugby, has paid tribute to former Springbok Women\u2019s captain Lusanda Dumke, who passed aw ...","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/rugby-world-mourns-lusanda-dumkes-passing","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Rugby World Mourns Lusanda Dumke's Passing","og_description":"Mark Alexander, President of SA Rugby, has paid tribute to former Springbok Women\u2019s captain Lusanda Dumke, who passed aw ...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/rugby-world-mourns-lusanda-dumkes-passing","og_site_name":"South Africa","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa","article_published_time":"2025-12-16T16:42:28+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-12-16T17:04:16+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":630,"url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2025\/12\/sm_1765891935.576486.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"cfeditoren","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"cfeditoren","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/rugby-world-mourns-lusanda-dumkes-passing#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/rugby-world-mourns-lusanda-dumkes-passing"},"author":{"name":"cfeditoren","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"headline":"Rugby World Mourns Lusanda Dumke’s Passing","datePublished":"2025-12-16T16:42:28+00:00","dateModified":"2025-12-16T17:04:16+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/rugby-world-mourns-lusanda-dumkes-passing"},"wordCount":453,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/rugby-world-mourns-lusanda-dumkes-passing#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2025\/12\/sm_1765891935.576486.jpg","keywords":["South-Africa"],"articleSection":["all news","sport"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/rugby-world-mourns-lusanda-dumkes-passing#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/rugby-world-mourns-lusanda-dumkes-passing","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/rugby-world-mourns-lusanda-dumkes-passing","name":"Rugby World Mourns Lusanda Dumke's Passing - South Africa","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/rugby-world-mourns-lusanda-dumkes-passing#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/rugby-world-mourns-lusanda-dumkes-passing#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2025\/12\/sm_1765891935.576486.jpg","datePublished":"2025-12-16T16:42:28+00:00","dateModified":"2025-12-16T17:04:16+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"description":"Mark Alexander, President of SA Rugby, has paid tribute to former Springbok Women\u2019s captain Lusanda Dumke, who passed aw ...","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/rugby-world-mourns-lusanda-dumkes-passing#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/rugby-world-mourns-lusanda-dumkes-passing"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/rugby-world-mourns-lusanda-dumkes-passing#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2025\/12\/sm_1765891935.576486.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2025\/12\/sm_1765891935.576486.jpg","width":1200,"height":630,"caption":"Rugby World Mourns Lusanda Dumke's Passing"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/rugby-world-mourns-lusanda-dumkes-passing#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Rugby World Mourns Lusanda Dumke’s Passing"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/","name":"South Africa","description":"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb","name":"cfeditoren","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"cfeditoren"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94360","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/84"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=94360"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94360\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/94359"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=94360"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=94360"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=94360"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}