Springbok Women performance coach Swys de Bruin complimented and applauded his squad after they outplayed New Zealand’s Black Ferns XV at Athlone Stadium in Cape Town on Saturday night to end their Rugby World Cup preparations on a positive note.
De Bruin said the 41-24 victory, overturning a 34-26 defeat from last weekend, provided a number of positive outcomes for coaches and players alike.
“I think we are now close to where we wanted to be a few weeks out from the Rugby World Cup,” said De Bruin.
“The team really played well tonight and executed the tweaks we made very well, and that delivered not only a winning result, but also a boost of confidence to the squad and management.
“We worked hard to get to this point, and I can honestly say this was one of the best performances we had since I joint the squad just over a year ago.”
De Bruin said the players took the responsibility to change last weekend’s result upon themselves and made a mental switch for this weekend’s game.
“It started with our jersey presentation yesterday when Babalwa (Latsha) made a wonderful speech to the team and they embraced the message she delivered that it was time to take the opportunities that they create,” he said. “They showed exactly that today, it was such an inspiring performance.”
De Bruin said their Rugby World Cup preparation is now complete and they can finally focus on their next task, the opening match against Brazil in Northampton in just over two weeks’ time.
“The coaches are happy that we got our combinations and spine right and we can go to the World Cup 99 per cent sure of what we need to do to have the best performance ever,” De Bruin said. “We needed this win and the way we did it, was an extra boost.”
The SA coach thanked his players, management, SA Rugby, rugby media and the Athlone crowd for their support.
“We even had the Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture, Mr Gayton McKenzie in the changeroom today and that shows you the support we are receiving. I am so pleased and proud that they could return that support with a very good performance today.”
Latsha, who led the team on Saturday, said the squad executed her message, which was to grab the opportunity: “We needed this performance, we now have the knowledge and the belief that we are on the right track and will go to the Rugby World Cup in a good mental and physical space. It was also really nice to play in front of such an amazing and supportive crowd.”
For Latsha, the victory also meant that the team will have a memory bank full of positive thoughts.
“We know the disappointment from last week when we did not execute and the joys of the win this week when we did,” she said. “And this memory of winning is ideal going to the Rugby World Cup.”
Nadine Roos, who started at scrumhalf on Saturday, said the performance was personal, especially for herself.
“I was not happy about my performance last weekend and on Monday I said to myself that I will prepare to play the best game I can and assist my team the best way I can,” said Roos. “I decided that no one was going to get past me today and no one did, so I am very happy that we could pull off the win and that I could contribute towards that.
Experienced flanker Sinazo Mcatshulwa said the physicality of the Springbok Women is easy to maintain: “When we train, it is very physical. Every session we have, from Monday to Thursday, is a physical one, so we don’t mind going to that dark place on a match day either. This was very rewarding to all of us.”
The Springbok Women squad for the Rugby World Cup 2025 will be announced on Saturday, 9 August.