While Swys de Bruin was dishing out deserved platitudes to the Springbok Women team, captain Nolusindiso Booi cut a dejected figure alongside him. She had just earned her 49th Test cap – the most in SA history – and given her all against Italy at the Athlone Stadium on Saturday.
The 39-year-old Booi hoped to see her team finish off the WXV 2 tournament in fine style as they prepare for next year’s World Cup in England, and they did show the necessary doggedness to take it right to the final whistle against a higher-ranked team.
But, as was the case against Australia a week earlier, the South Africans just weren’t able to clinch victory, going down 23-19.
For someone who has sacrificed so much for the game in Mzansi, Booi is reaping the rewards now of a more professional set-up at the Bok Women team – but she also wants that taste of a few big wins before the World Cup.
“We are happy, but it’s just that we want to do much better than what we did. We want to win games and we want to show people that we can play the game,” the No 4 lock said.
“We want more people to come and support us, and it’s not easy for people to come and support people that are not winning. So, even though we see that our game is growing – because it is growing and we are getting better each day – but we don’t want to feel like today, feeling that we were close.
“If we can maybe try to fix our start – because we have a problem with our start ... I don’t know what to say, but we have a way of not starting well. So, if we can fix that, maybe things will be better for us.”
Performance coach De Bruin was understandably upbeat about the progress his team have made in beating Japan 31-24, and then losing 33-26 to Australia and 23-19 to Italy.
The Bok Women have come a long way over the last few years, and with De Bruin only joining them a few months ago, his philosophy – particularly on attack – will take time to become second-nature to the players.
The ‘Bomb Squad’ also made a huge impact early in the second half to reignite the Bok effort, but De Bruin knows that there are some crucial areas that need to be addressed before they return to the pitch next year.
“Firstly, I think we’ve got to up our physical conditioning much, much more. When the game gets quicker and faster and they start playing and making the game faster, we did leave a lot of gaps and we just couldn’t get there,” the former Lions coach said.
“But we are a scrumming team, a mauling team, so that’s one department that the ladies know, going to the World Cup – every single one of them. Our strength and conditioning will have to up immensely.
The Springbok Women didn't lose a single scrum on their own feed across their three #WXV2 matches 👏🇿🇦#HereForHer pic.twitter.com/uSxetR5G29
— SuperSport Rugby (@SSRugby) October 13, 2024
THE POWER 💪
— WXV (@WXVRugby) October 12, 2024
Just look at this maul from the Springbok Women 🔥#WXV | #WXV2 | #RSAvITA pic.twitter.com/W1GeUAnjMY
“Lynne (Cantwell, the SA Rugby women’s high-performance manager) is doing a fantastic job for next year. We are going to play against Spain, an invitational side from New Zealand.
“But we did ask – and I’m not going to mention names – one or two top sides in the top six, and we are not getting in there.
“So, it is a bit of a concern. Once you are in the top six, it’s hard to get in there. We need more competitive Tests, and more franchises who are professional as well for us to grow the game further.”