The South Africans opened their Pool D fixtures at the World Cup with a win against Brazil last weekend.
South Africa’s Springbok women’s team hope the momentum gained from a first-up win at the World Cup taking place in England will be a boost for them in their second pool game against Italy in York on Sunday.
The Springbok women’s team opened their campaign with a stunning 66-6 win against Brazil in Northampton last weekend, but will face a stiffer challenge from Italy, who are ranked 11th to their 12th in the world.
Also, Italy won both previous matches between the teams – 36-18 in 2023 and 23-19 last year.
Assistant coach Franzel September though is confident the South Africans can record a first win against the Italians this weekend.
“We are well prepared, have good momentum and the team have some self-belief that this will be our very best World Cup ever. It is all in our hands,” said September, referring to the match this Sunday.
A win by the South Africans would guarantee them a top two finish in Pool D and secure their place in the quarter-finals.
Back to training
The team returned to the training field on Tuesday after having Monday off to recover from the win against Brazil.
“It was good to get back to zero again after the good win over Brazil on Sunday and the journey to York yesterday,” said September.
“We started afresh today, with the sole focus for the next couple of days on our match against Italy and what we want out of it. We saw some good things from the Brazil game and celebrated that victory, but that is in the past now. Italy is all at that matters.”
Italy lost their opening game to pool favourites France.
September said the team’s focus remained the same for the round two match at the York Community Stadium on Sunday.
“In any World Cup you have to close the chapter after each game and start a new one with a different focus,” said September.
“We wanted to get going and gain some momentum in doing so. The 10-try win gave us all of that, but we are mindful that we need to start afresh against Italy.
“They are a very experienced side with a very good kicking game, so will challenge us in different ways to what Brazil did. We need to be ready for that. We pride ourselves on our set piece and I believe our power game will deliver the result we want this weekend.”
The squad for the Italian match will be announced on Friday.
