SuperSport rugby anchor Motshidisi Mohono has become a much-loved, trusted and familiar face on SA television screens.
Celebrated as the “First Lady of Rugby”, she champions the Laureus Sport for Good cause and blazes a trail for women breaking barriers in sports journalism.
In an interview at the No5 Boutique Art Hotel by Mantis in Summerstrand, Mohono said the most difficult challenge for any woman seeking to enter the sports broadcasting space was establishing credibility.
“Building credibility in the fact that your audience starts to trust you, to trust your authority, but also to trust what you are saying to them.
“To trust that you are giving them the right information.
“That was the biggest one for me, and it took a lot of work and a lot of reaching out to the stars I already work with to verify, fact-check and really get stuck into the meat of this game.
“It is only when I did much more of that that I started to earn the respect of my audience, and they have grown with me as I have grown.
“They are with me even today, where they come to me for the information they need and trust that whatever I share is correct.”
Among her many accomplishments are being the first woman to anchor a Rugby World Cup final for SuperSport and winning Journalist of the Year at the 2018 SA Sport Awards.
She has covered major international rugby tournaments and tours, including the 2021 British and Irish Lions Tour to SA, Springbok Test matches, end-of-year tours, the United Rugby Championship, Super Rugby and Currie Cup finals.
Mohono said while the 2019 Rugby World Cup was a memorable moment in her career, covering the 2023 showpiece was still the pinnacle of her professional career.
“The 2023 Rugby World Cup final in Paris . . . to be pitch-side at a Rugby World Cup, let alone a final, has been my dream ever since I started working in the rugby department, and to finally have had the opportunity to do that was amazing.
“I went to 2023 for the knockouts, and I remember our team reminding me that if SA lost in the quarterfinals, I’m going home, we’re all going home.
“I stood there pitch-side hoping, ‘Not today, Lord,’ they have to win this quarterfinal.
“What a nail-biter that was, and the semifinal was exactly the same.
“And to stand pitch-side for the final and watch SA defeat New Zealand in such a crunch game, in the manner in which they had done it, in which they had done it for the third week in a row, was absolutely extraordinary.”
She said she hoped her journey would inspire other girls and women.
“It has taken too long [for a woman to anchor].
“I hope in the not too distant future someone else who looks like me, who is a woman, is anchoring as well.
“That will speak testimony to the fact that the path we are trying to pave and the pioneering we have done over the years is bearing fruit.
“We need more women in the space, and we need more women in front of the camera.
“Moments like that show we are competent, we know what we are doing, and we are extraordinary at it, and we are world-class at it.”
The Herald
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