The Springbok Women concluded another fruitful training day at St. John’s College in Johannesburg on Tuesday with a lot of focus on defence, an area Laurian Johannes-Haupt (assistant coach) feels they need to dominate in their Test against USA Eagles at Ellis Park on Saturday.
The Bok Women coach was also optimistic that their scrumming power and set piece play could lead the way in their effort to beat the Americans, currently ranked eighth in the world, in what will be a first clash between the sides on African soil.
The Springbok Women have played USA six times before with the first clash in 2009 and the last in 2023. South Africa have won one of these Tests, in Ontario in 2011.
Johannes-Haupt said the focus of the day was to get clarity on all aspects of their defensive set-up: “Scrums, set piece defence, wide ruck defence – you name it, we focussed on it and it was a very productive session. So those boxes were ticked for us and with one session remaining on Thursday, we are about as ready as we can be.”
They have a good idea what to expect from their opponents, with plenty of footage to analyse after the USA played New Zealand, Australia and Canada in the Pacific Four tournament.
“We played Canada last year, who at that time was third on the world rankings,” she said.
“They showed us the way with regards to the intensity needed at the top level and I am convinced that because of those lessons learned, we were able to deliver good results at the Rugby World Cup.
“So, taking on USA will also improve aspects of our play, which will have a positive long-term impact. We expect them to play a certain way and prepared for that, but we also know what we want to achieve and how we can get the job done.”
The players are also aware of the impact their performance on the weekend will have on the rest of their season.
“We did achieve the best result ever for our squad at last year’s Women’s Rugby World Cup, so the challenge now is to keep improving, lifting the bar higher and higher, and to move up the world rankings,” she said.
“We want to be able to play and compete against any team in the world come the next World Cup. The players want to represent their country to the best of their abilities, but also, they want to make the country proud of their efforts.
“They are standards-driven and any coach must be happy with that. We are aware of the momentum we can create with two good performances over the next two weekends.”
The match-23 will be announced on Thursday, with all 30 players currently training available for selection.
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The New Zealand national rugby team, known as the All Blacks, is considered one of the most successful and dominant teams in the history of rugby union. They have won the Rugby World Cup three times (1987, 2011, and 2015) and held the World Rugby Rankings’ top position for a significant amount of time.
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Rugby was introduced to France in the late 19th century.