As newly selected Springbok women's prop Zilungile Makaula grew up, the one thing on her mind, except church on Sundays, was playing rugby.
The 92kg, 1,68m 25-year-old spent her childhood in the dusty mountains of Mount Frere in the Eastern Cape. Now a Mayville resident, she is the only woman from KwaZulu-Natal to be selected for the recently established 26-member national women's team.
Makaula, who is studying for her BA honours degree in sport science at the University of KwaZulu-Natal's Westville campus, is considered the best woman prop in the country. And she said she was raring to take on Wales on May 29 in a 2006 World Cup qualifier.
Speaking to The Mercury on Thursday, she told of the fulfilment of her childhood dream to play "full-contact" rugby.
"Life growing up was rural in all ways for me. I used to fetch wood from the mountains and travel long distances to the nearest river for water. But there was one thing which kept me happy after doing all this - rugby." However, Makaula and the other girls were never allowed to play full-contact rugby.
That changed and she got her chance to play "full-contact" in 2001, after several women from the former University of Durban-Westville started their own rugby team.
Later that year, she started playing for the Jaguars club.
However, her road to the Springbok side was not smooth-sailing.
To ensure selection in the national team, Makaula trained twice a day, six days week, from last November until January.
She has been described as a "super sportswoman" by her coach and biokineticist Junaid Azmuth.
"She is the best in the country. She is the strongest, fastest and most mobile woman I have ever seen," said Azmuth. "The way she is playing at the moment, I am confident she will get a scholarship to study overseas."
Makaula is positive about her team's chances next month: "Although we have not played together as a national side I think we are going to do well next month."
"But women's rugby in South Africa still has a long way to go."