Kathryn Dane became the first Ulster female player to be selected for Barbarians in their game against Springbok Women at the weekend.

It was an outstanding achievement for Dane who has recently only returned to playing rugby following a brain haemorrhage in 2022.

The 26-year-old played her first competitive match back at Ravenhill back in August as Ulster drew with Connacht.

The former Enniskillen Skins player made history with her selection for the iconic invitational club as she made the trip to Cape Town with the rest of the squad.

Barbarians came out on top in last year’s encounter but it was a different story in Cape Town as Springbok claimed a 59-17 win with an impressive display.

The South African side hit five first-half tries as it took just four minutes for them to get off the mark. Lindelwa Gwala opened her team's account when she managed to get over the line with maul try.

With ten minutes on the clock, Sprinbok came forward again on the break only to be stopped short of the try line but the ball was worked out wide to Vainah Ubisi who touched down for try number two.

Quick play to get the ball out wide again worked in their favour as Ayanda Malinga ran through and scored.

The visiting side found it difficult to get up to speed of the game but they did eventually respond with a try through Lydia Thompson.

The same woman added Barbarians’ second try shortly after to cut the deficit, however, late tries in the half via Aseza Hele and Sinazo Mcatshulwa extended the gap.

Jakkie Cilliers converted four of five tries to leave the halftime score at 33-10. Kendra Cocksedge gave the Barbarians a better start to the second half with an early try but substitute Yonela Ngxingolo soon cancelled that out.

Nadine Roos, Felicia Jacobs and Malinga sealed a convincing 59-17 win in the end for Springbok Women.