The Springbok Women may still have a mathematical chance of finishing top of the WXV 2 standings on Saturday in Cape Town, but it will be a straight forward calculation for the national team on how they want to finish their tournament at Athlone Stadium.
“We are looking to finish strong and with a win”, was the straight forward assessment of assistant coach Laurian Johannes-Haupt after the Bok Women had a short but intense training session at Hamiltons Rugby Club in Green Point on Monday.
The Springbok Women opened their campaign two weekends ago with a good win over Japan and pushed Australia all the way last Saturday, and they will be hungry for a win over Italy, said Johannes-Haupt.
“We are improving very nicely, we have good momentum and the fact that we came close against Australia and scored four tries against them, tell you about our progress,” she said.
“They are currently ranked seventh in the world and we came within one play of a draw. That tells us we are on the right track as we work towards the Rugby World Cup in England next year.”
Johannes-Haupt said they are determined to continue with their surge in performance by beating Italy, who won 36-18 in their previous match – where South Africa played with only 13 players in the last 20 minutes in WXV 2 last year.
She is expecting a different challenge from Italy than was delivered by Japan and Australia: “They have a different style and that will test us again, but that is the beauty of a tournament like this. They have their own way of playing, especially on attack and their pack are standing their ground in the set piece, but were are ready for them.”
The Bok Women will almost certainly again boost their pack of forwards against the European side.
“We are in a very fortunate position to have a strong pack of forwards, with two packs that are almost equal in their abilities,” said Johannes-Haupt.
“This year though, we have added more variety amongst our backs and we are building towards a more versatile and rounded team. We will never go away from our strengths, but the space created by the pack does open up gaps for our backs, so we must use that as well.
“The new coaching regime have a lot more to work with and that is showing on how we play. Today we tweaked a bit on some areas and will do the same tomorrow. We are looking to make a change or two in the playing squad as well, just to continue building depth and test combinations ahead of next year.”
They also owe the Bok Women faithful some reward for their support, according to Johannes-Haupt: “Our supporters are growing in numbers and that is such good news for our game. The players really go out to represent everyone in the country when they run onto the field and to be able to do so with an ever growing crowd urging them on is just great.”
Trash Master
The Confederation of African Rugby is the governing body of rugby union within Africa and currently has 37 members. It runs various rugby tournaments within Africa including the CAR Super 16 and the Africa Cup.
Jersey
Rugby union was only classified as a professional sport in 1995 – When a schism formed and rugby became rugby league and rugby union in 1895, rugby union was no longer considered a professional sport. Shockingly, this remained the case until a century later, when in 1995, it was given the same recognition afforded to rugby league.