Mathrin Simmers of South Africa during day three of the 2022 South Africa Rugby World Cup Sevens tournament at Cape Town Stadium. Photo: BackpagePix
Image: Backpagepix
The Springbok Women continued to build up for Saturday’s Test match against Spain with a commanding 50-17 victory over an England age-group side in Marcoussis, France.
It was a great weekend for Springbok Women’s rugby, with the Sevens team winning the third and final World Rugby HSBC Challenger Series tournament in Krakow, Poland. With that victory, SA booked a place at next month’s playoffs in Los Angeles against the bottom four HSBC SVNS sides for a place in the 2026 World Series.
Nadine Roos, Zintle Mpupha and Ayanda Malinga were key to the victory in Poland. They will be confident of transferring that form to the Test arena, having joined the Springbok Women in Spain on Sunday for next weekend’s match against their hosts in Alicante.
Springbok Women’s Sevens skipper Mathrin Simmers believes the silverware will also boost them.
“It is a massive year for our Springbok Women and women’s rugby in general, and wins like these just boost the exposure and confidence amongst players in both codes,” she said. “I have no doubt that this win will boost the Springbok Women as well, going to the Rugby World Cup in England.”
Simmers reserved special praise for utility back Roos.
Ace back Nadine Roos played a key role for the Springbok Women’s Sevens as they claimed the title in the final Challenger tournament in Krakow, Poland.
Image: Zach Franzen / World Rugby
The speedster has excelled in all three legs of the Challenger Series. She will add a cutting edge to the Bok XVs this week.
“Nadine is such a special player and a team player at that. She simply does not stop, and she refuses to give up,” said Simmers.
“It is very special to have such a player in your team that will never stop fighting for us. It is a huge plus to have her on our team and not have to play against her.”
Wing Jakkie Cilliers is another potent attacking option for the Bok Women. She scored two of their eight tries and added five conversions for a haul of 20 points in the match against the England team.
A powerful scrum performance laid the foundation for the win that marked a fine end to their first week of touring France and Spain. They were also strong on the counterattack. Springbok Women’s assistant coach Franzel September said the match provided a lot of information to the coaches and the squad.
“We saw a lot of different pictures, most of them good, and that was a huge positive,” said September.
“We had a number of camps leading up to this tour and to now have the players go out and execute those learnings was a good yardstick for us. They could express those learnings, first in the training against France and then today in a match against this England side.”
September said there are several work-ons, but that was expected in the team's first match of the season: “So far so good, though.”
He said the week in France served as excellent preparation for the weekend's Test.
“We have seen all the players in action and we have a good feeling of where they are,” he said. “I am sure Bafana Nhleko was happy with the defence, while the forwards coaches are also smiling.
"We are a set-piece team, after all, and to see the good work in those areas was pleasing. We can now head into Spain with good security in most areas of our game.”
The Springbok Women defeated Spain 36-19 in a one-off Test match on September 19 last year at DHL Stadium in Cape Town. It was only their second meeting in a Test match, with the South Africans shading the first 15-13.