The plan to not play any rugby in their half of the field and give Kenya’s strike runners the opportunity to attack the South African line worked wonders for the Springbok Women on Sunday, while the team’s game management also worked well.
That is the view of Springbok Women assistant coach Franzel September after they claimed their fifth consecutive Rugby Africa Women’s Cup in as many years, this time by beating a nuggetty Kenya by 35-20 in Nairobi.
“We came with a plan, and it worked,” said September afterwards.
“The tactical kicking meant that they had to launch their attacks from out wide and our defence was ready for that. We applied good pressure on them and their skill set could not quite cope with our approach.”
Kenya were in the lead at the break, but September said the decision to select a bench with six forwards and two backs was always going to bear fruit.
“In the end we endured and won going away in tough conditions,” he said.
“It felt that a number of things were going against us, but the team’s resilience came through. The pick and drive tactic also worked well, and we could see Kenya starting to fall away in the end.”
What was pleasing was the step-up in execution after their performance against Uganda, which according to September was just not good enough.
“We certainly improved,” he said. “What was also pleasing was the nine debutants all getting a taste of what Test rugby is all about and I have to say, some of them really did well and showed that they want to be part of future Springbok Women teams.”
They will have a short break before the next challenge – a two-Test series against the USA – awaits.
“We are back in South Africa tomorrow, so there will be a lot of smiles,” said September.
“We achieved our objectives with regards to blooding younger players, giving some others a proper run and starting our season on a winning note. We are three from three and have nine more to play this season, so after the short break, we will focus on the next job.”
Selected stats:
Most points:
46: Jakkie Cilliers (2 tries, 2 penalty goals, 15 conversions)
20: Alichia Arries (4 tries)
Most tries:
4: Alicia Arries
3: Logan Welman
Tournament tries:
22: South Africa
20: Keyna
13: Uganda
3: Madagascar
Hightower
The French domestic rugby competition is called the Top 14.