There are a number of boxes to be ticked for the Springbok Women come Saturday at Emirates Airline Park and playing at this iconic stadium will be one of them, especially as it will be a first for most of the players.
So says Nadine Roos, who has not even watched a game at the stadium yet, so the anticipation to run out in front of a home crowd who will be supporting them in their Women's Winter Series test match against Spain is huge, said the fullback as match day approaches.
The Springbok Women had a full contact session in Potchefstroom on Tuesday, their first as such after their historic win over Japan in Kumagaya nine days ago.
"It was a good session for us," Roos said. "It was great to get the legs pumping again and to get into that test week mode. We had some good meetings and clarity sessions before training and everybody got back onto the same page quickly, which resulted in a positive session for us on the field. We have confidence now after our feat in Japan and for us to play our next match here at home is going to be very special."
Roos appealed to the public to arrive early at the stadium to support their game as well, which kicks off at 1pm CAT (SA, GMT+2).
"We would love nothing more than to have a decent crowd in for the game. We want to show people what we are about and since we have not played at this venue in a test match, I hope people will come early to watch us play as well. We are preparing for a Rugby World Cup, where we will be playing in the opening match of the tournament in New Zealand, so the bigger the crowd, the better for us. We will be in front of a big crowd in that opening game at Eden Park, so the more spectators we get this weekend, the better it will work for us from an experience point of view."
The 26-year-old, who has played six test matches and scored three tries, said it is a fantastic opportunity to play the curtain raiser to the Springboks’ Castle Lager Rugby Championship clash against New Zealand.
"This is a huge privilege for us playing that match before the men take the field. We would love nothing more than to make South Africa proud with our performance and be part of this historic day for us. We can't wait."
For Roos, who has played against Spain in sevens rugby, where she is South Africa's leading scorer, is one thing, to tackle them in fifteens is another.
"This is going to be a tough nut to crack, they are ranked higher than us, so we will enter the match as favourites. But so was Japan and we managed to beat them. They play very much like Japan did as well, playing at speed and moving the ball around from side to side. We tend to be more physical and direct, so will have to make sure we prevent them from playing their game, but force them to play ours. If we manage that, we should enjoy the result at the end of the match. We saw what worked for us against Japan, so keeping to that structure will work in our favour."
The team will travel to Johannesburg on Wednesday and complete their preparations for the first test match there.