Springbok Women pull off their ‘best performance' in final World Cup warm-up against Black Ferns XV
The Springbok Women wrapped up their Rugby World Cup preparations with a magnificent, morale-boosting 41-24 victory over the Black Ferns XV.
Two maul tries, an opportunistic try off an opposition error, a counter-attack try, a pair of pick-and-go tries and set-play tries off the back of solid lineouts. South Africa's win over New Zealand's second side had it all, it was little wonder then that head coach Swys de Bruin recognised the performance as one of the best since he started his tenure a year ago.
'I think we are now close to where we wanted to be a few weeks out from the Rugby World Cup,' De Bruin said after the match.
'The team really played well and executed the tweaks we made very well, and that delivered not only a winning result, but also a boost of confidence to the squad and management.
'We worked hard to get to this point, and I can honestly say this was one of the best performances we had since I joined the squad just over a year ago.'
Blueprint
While last week's performance (which they lost 34-26 against the same opposition) was built on grit and domination from the forward pack, this time South Africa's aggression upfront was paired with silky ball handling.
And the gel weaving the two elements together? None other than scrumhalf Nadine Roos, who has been shifted around the backline across the last 12 months, but looks to have found the position that suits the team best and gets the most out of their best player.
'I was not happy about my performance last weekend and on Monday I said to myself that I will prepare to play the best game I can and assist my team the best way I can,' an inspired Roos said after the match. 'I decided that no one was going to get past me today and no one did, so I am very happy that we could pull off the win and that I could contribute towards that.
It also allows the team to have Byrhandré Dolf at fullback who, with her eye for a counter-attack, fleet-feet and scrumcap donned head, is akin to Cheslin Kolbe or Kurt-Lee Arendse in the Springbok men's side.
'The coaches are happy that we got our combinations and spine right and we can go to the World Cup 99% sure of what we need to do to have the best performance ever,' De Bruin said. 'We needed this win and the way we did it, was an extra boost.'
The other member of the backline spine is Libbie Janse van Rensburg who played a starring role at flyhalf and even dotted down with a try of her own.
The power from the pack was not sacrificed with No 8 Aseze Hele particularly brutal on defence and thunderous with ball in hand, providing the side with go-forward.
Holding firm
The Bok Women started like a house on fire with pacey winger Ayanda Malinga breaking the duck with an opportunistic try. The side added three more in the first half while conceding two to take a 24-12 lead into the sheds.
The Black Ferns XV threatened a comeback with the scores on 24-19 early in the second half. But the Springbok Women just continued to pull away, adding another 17 points to their total in the second half while only conceding one more try in the same period.
The team now has a template for how they want to execute at the Women's Rugby World Cup with their first match against Brazil on 24 August.
'We needed this performance, we now have the knowledge and the belief that we are on the right track and will go to the Rugby World Cup in a good mental and physical space,' stand-in skipper and tighthead prop Babalwa Latsha said.
'We know the disappointment from last week when we did not execute and the joys of the win this week when we did,' she said. 'And this memory of winning is ideal going to the Rugby World Cup.'
It's not perfect yet. The Springbok Women's defence offered soft shoulders at times and were occasionally outfoxed by a Black Ferns side who had slick operators across their side as well.
Outside centre Kelsey Teneti, who is a sevens star as well, was a standout again after being awarded as player of the match last week and capped off her performance with a brilliant individual try.
But South Africa held-firm and didn't allow the Black Ferns XV a proper sniff into the match.
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