While the Springbok Women arguably got the most favourable draw possible for next year’s Rugby World Cup, coach Swys de Bruin is fully aware that they still need to make huge strides to reach the playoffs.
The South Africans were drawn alongside France, Italy and Brazil in Pool D on Thursday night in London, with the toughest quartet in Pool A, where England Australia, USA and Samoa will lock horns.
The two other groups see Canada, Scotland, Wales and Fiji in Pool B, and defending champions New Zealand, Ireland, Japan and Spain in Pool C.
The 16 sides will square off across England between August 22 and September 27, with the final set for Twickenham. The match schedule will be announced next Tuesday.
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The Bok Women come off a strong showing in the WXV 2 tournament in Cape Town, where they faced Japan, Australia and Italy, who are all ranked higher than their 12th spot.
The fact that the SA side beat the Japanese 31-24 was a major step forward, especially considering that new head coach De Bruin had joined them only a few weeks before.
They should arguably have won against Australia (33-26) and Italy (23-19) as well, but their execution on attack, lapses in defence and fitness let them down.
“To be honest, it could’ve been much worse, hey! I’ve got to be a diplomatic now, because my words might come back to bite me a bit later. But I was rather relieved when I saw the draw,” De Bruin said yesterday.
“The one pool I don’t want to be in is Pool A, but the rest... D and C are sort of very much the same.
“We played Italy and know exactly what’s coming. We know how they spoil our lineouts.
“It was a close game (23-19 loss) and it went right down to the wire. We lost it there, so it still makes us the underdogs.
“We will try to tick every box and be at our utmost best to see if we can make the quarters for the first time ever, because that would be fantastic for women’s rugby in this country.”
But now they will have more than enough time to work on those building blocks to mount a serious challenge in Pool D and qualify for the quarter-finals for the first time next year.
While France are ranked fourth and regarded as one of the powerhouses in the women’s game, the crucial fixture for the Boks will be against Italy, which should decide second place.
To that end, De Bruin said that there will be a series of camps lined up from December onwards, as well as additional consultants brought in during the build-up to the World Cup.
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Even Springbok captain Siya Kolisi helped out in training before last weekend’s Italy game at Athlone Stadium, and the likes of Daan Human, Mzwandile Stick and Deon Davids have added their touches too.
One of the major shortcomings was the kicking game, where the strong wind affected the efforts of Jakkie Cilliers and Nadine Roos, while Libbie Janse van Rensburg’s boot was surprisingly not used either.
De Bruin said that there would be a “big camp” in December that would be position-specific, and that he intends to meet with provincial coaches as well.
The first warm-up games are likely to be in April against Spain away, and later the African Cup before they head to England.
“I don’t know about Rassie (Erasmus helping out), because that man is quite busy! But we will definitely use consultants,” De Bruin said.
“We must look at a kicking coach, and I already have one in mind. You can’t play our counter-attack style and kick deep and then attack if you can’t kick properly.
“We can kick properly, but we are far behind international standards with the distance we get with our kicks.
“We scrum very well. Our lineout play is good. We have very good coaches with Laurian (Johannes-Haupt, scrum coach), Franzel (September, lineouts) and Bafana (Nhleko, defence), and our whole management, who are very professional.
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“We will definitely use Jaco Peyper and some of the guys. I have to get used to the way they officiate the games, small things I need to get used to.
“The scrums, breakdowns are slightly different. We must use some of the lady refs in our country and Jaco Peyper.
“I must sort the kicking out, and I want to look at a woman psychologist to come in and tick the right boxes.
“Considering the support from SA Rugby, there is no reason we can’t be successful.”
Women’s Rugby World Cup Draw
Pool A: England, Australia, USA, Samoa
Pool B: Canada, Scotland, Wales, Fiji
Pool C: New Zealand, Ireland, Japan, Spain
Pool D: France, Italy, South Africa, Brazil