Many positive aspects for the Springbok women in their victory over Spain

Swys de Bruin praised the Springbok Women’s defensive and attacking prowess in their 36-19 victory over Spain at Cape Town Stadium on Thursday. De Bruin, the team’s performance coach, hailed the performance as another step forward in preparations for the WXV 2 and next year’s Rugby World Cup.

De Bruin was pleased with the way the team defended in the first quarter of the game, when Spain came hard and fast at the Springbok Women, and in the final ten minutes, when the opponents again launched waves of concerted attacks.

“You have to give credit to Spain for never stopping trying and testing us in many areas,” said De Bruyn. “But I can’t fault our team for their efforts in defence. What I’m also very proud of in attack was the way we took our chances.”

“People may not realise how difficult the conditions were. The swirling wind really affected the handling on both sides. We made some mistakes because of that but I can’t fault this team for their efforts.

“I’m very happy with the result. We are still developing in many areas and I would have loved it if we hadn’t conceded that very late attempt, but Spain showed how determined they are to score. Overall it was a great game to showcase women’s football.”

De Bruin said the impact of the assistant coaches’ work was clearly visible.

“They are top class and I am happy to have them with me. Their contribution is clearly visible.”

Aseza Hele, player of the match, said the award was due to the team effort.

“We play the way we train and I can attest that our training sessions are very hard. We push each other but once we’re on the field we’re playing for each other, for our jersey and for our country. The effort out there was real and it was great to have some really passionate fans in the stadium too,” she said.

“The Spanish team certainly gave us something to think about, but we will work on our mistakes and prepare for our first game in WXV 2 against Japan.”

Nadine Roos said the team is getting into its stride and she is looking forward to the upcoming tests in the next three weeks against Japan, Australia and Italy.

“We made some mistakes that we can learn from, but we also showed some very good phases of play that give us confidence,” she said.

“The crowd support has been great and we really hope to see more of it next Friday when we return to Cape Town Stadium to play Japan in our opening match.”