While Springbok fans have been rejoicing the Test wins over Australia over the past fortnight, there were a few giant leaps forward for the women’s game in South Africa as well this week.
The Springbok Women’s team has been improving steadily over the last few years, and is currently ranked 12th in the world in the 15-player format, and qualified for the recent Paris Olympics in the sevens arena.
But now, with Women’s Month still being celebrated in Mzansi, the SA Rugby Union has added considerable weight to the Women’s Boks coaching ranks to be real contenders at next year’s World Cup in England.
The governing body has brought in former Lions head coach and Springbok assistant Swys de Bruin as a “performance coach” – which effectively puts him in charge of the team – as well as moving Bafana Nhleko, who was the Junior Bok head coach, to the women’s side as well.
Long-serving interim head coach Louis Koen will return to his permanent post as the high performance manager at SA Rugby, and having De Bruin as a full-time mentor for the Women’s Boks can only create a more stable environment.
There is also a proposed provincial professional league mooted for next year, in order to develop a consistent conveyor belt to the national team.
“With the forthcoming WXV 2 tournament and the participation in the Women’s Rugby World Cup next year, we are in a solid position to boost the growth of the game,” SA Rugby CEO Rian Oberholzer said.
“With the experience and expertise Swys will bring to the coaching ranks, we can expect a boost in on-field performance as well.”
Former Women’s Bok prop Laurian Johannes-Haupt and ex-provincial loose forward Franzel September will continue as assistant coaches for the women’s national team.
A training squad is busy with a camp in Gqeberha, in preparation for a match against a Barbarians team, which will serve as a curtain-raiser to the massive Springboks-All Blacks Test at Cape Town Stadium on September 7, where they will play in four more games over the next two months.
Let’s hope that this is the start of something special for the Springbok Women’s team, so that they can also taste World Cup glory next year.
Cape Times