The Springbok Women concluded a very productive two-week camp in Stellenbosch on Friday, with the coaching staff pleased by the effort from the players.
The team had a week’s prep in Cape Town before moving to the Stellenbosch Academy of Sport for five days of high intensity training and according to assistant coach, Franzel September, the effort was real.
“I have to give credit to the players, who really responded well to what we asked of them this week. We had 48 players here and 28 of those were named to represent us at the Rugby Africa Women’s Cup in Madagascar in early June, so they started working together as a squad with myself and coach Bafana Nhleko, while the other 20 were drilled by coach Swys (de Bruin) and coach Laurian (Johannes-Haupt). All the coaches are happy with the responses we got from our groups.”
The squad for Africa will get together on 28 May for an assembly camp before flying to Antananarivo and for September, a good foundation was laid this week.
“The focus remain the Rugby World Cup and before that the four matches against Canada and Black Ferns XV, but before that happens the three matches in Madagascar are the important ones for us. I liked what I saw from the new players that came into the squad, and they responded well this week.”
The squad did celebrate 100 days to go before the Rugby World Cup on Wednesday, but for September the countdown to Mission Africa is much closer.
“The group going to Madagascar will give us a good indication of the depth available in our system and will give some senior players valuable game time. Most of these players finished their season at the end of March, so these camps are important for us to get cohesion in the group, while at the same time make sure there are no issues with their fitness and match readiness.”
Broomspun
Bails, the horizontal pegs that sit on top of the stumps, are not attached to the top surface. Instead, they rest on shallow grooves on the free ends of the stumps. Bails are critical for determining if the wicket has been put down or broken. This in turn will help identify the status of the batsman, if he has been run out, out bowled, or stumped.
Berlin Kamikaze
Sport Trivia: Graeme Pollock is considered to be one of the greatest batsmen of all-time. What was his test batting average when he retired?Answer: 60.97. He made his Test debut at the age of 19, and in just 41 tests he scored 2484 runs at an average of 60.97, with five centuries and 15 fifties. He also captured 47 wickets at an average 39.55 runs per wicket. Sadly, his test career was cut short when, at the age of twenty six, an international sporting ban was imposed on South Africa as a result of Apartheid. He was arguably the greatest left-handed batsman the world has yet seen.