Having safely arrived in Alicante, Spain from France on Sunday, the Springbok Women had a very productive first training session on Monday and according to Performance Coach, Swys de Bruin, “Operation Spain” is now officially underway.
De Bruyn was happy with the energy and clarity at the team’s first hit-out for the weekend’s test, to be played at Campo de Rugby Amorós Palao in nearby Elche on Saturday, and said it bodes well for the expected South African effort in six days’ time.
“You could feel the buzz at breakfast already this morning, everyone is keen to go, and the players are clearly excited for this week,” said De Bruyn.
“Since we arrived and started with our team meetings and now training, all the focus is on Spain and their strengths and weaknesses. We left what happened in Marcoussis – good as it was – behind in France and came to Spain with this test match in mind.”
'EFFORT AND EXECUTION'
The Springbok Women and Spain have played each other five times in the last three years and although De Bruin recognised the fact that they are aware of each other’s gameplans, some things will have changed. South Africa won the last encounter, at DHL Stadium in Cape Town in September last year, by 36-19.
“Conditions will be different, the venue will be different, and players change, so the main focus for us on Saturday will be effort and execution,” he said.
“They had some additions to their squad since we last played, so we are expecting some changes from their side, but then, we are also looking for improvement and tweaks in certain areas. One thing that I have learned in test rugby is that the previous game does not really count for the next one.
“We are quite close to each other on the world ranking as well, so it will come down to the team that execute the best on the day.”
De Bruin wanted urgency in the training sessions as we believe it will give them the edge: “We need to make sure we get the 50/50's going our way. The girls want to go out and play and if we can do that in a clinical way, we will all be smiling at the end of the match.
“It will be a new match with fresh challenges. Like our players, the Spain team will also play to cement their positions in their Rugby World Cup squad for later this year, so this match will have its own merits.”
Head-to-Head:
17 August 2014 (Paris): Spain 36, South Africa 0
17 November 2018 (Villajoyosa): Spain 17, South Africa 5
21 September 2019 (Despatch): South Africa 12, Spain 29
13 August 2022 (Johannesburg): South Africa 44, Spain 5
19 August 2022 (Potchefstroom): South Africa 37, Spain 14
1 April 2023 (Madrid): Spain 20, South Africa 35
23 March 2024 (Valladolid): Spain 13, South Africa 15
19 September 2024 (Cape Town): South Africa 36, Spain 19