'We still dropped balls, made poor passes and conceded too many penalties due to a lack of discipline – all things that we need to cut from our game.'
Springbok Women’s coach Swys de Bruin praised his team after they gave him the strong start he asked for, thrashing Brazil 66–6 in Northampton to move to the top of Pool D after the first weekend of the Women’s Rugby World Cup.
The 10-try romp handed the South Africans the only bonus point win in the group, as France failed to score four tries in their 24–0 victory over Italy on Saturday.
“We have to reset now and all our focus will move to Italy,” De Bruin said of the second pool match, on Sunday in York.
“We wanted a strong start to the tournament and got that, so well done to the players. The starting team laid the perfect foundation and the bench finished strong. What a delightful team performance.”
The SA coach praised his pack for good rewards in the scrums, and the backs, who used their opportunities well.
He said that though Brazil was the lowest-ranked team in the tournament at 25th, he was pleased the Bok women delivered an 80-minute performance and did not concede any tries.
Springbok women look ahead to Italy
De Bruin said there is enough work-ons for the squad ahead of next week’s match against Italy to keep everyone honest and humble.
“We still dropped balls, made poor passes and conceded too many penalties due to a lack of discipline – all things that we need to cut from our game if we want to be effective against Italy next week,” he said.
“The ball protection at times was also not up to standard and our breakdown work needs to be better. We have good momentum though and will use that in our preparation in York this coming week.”
Bok Women captain Nolusindiso Booi praised the players and said their appetite for hard work was telling.
“There was a time early in the first half where we lost a little but of structure, but the team came back well,” she said. “The replacements also did what was expected. Winning a game at the World Cup in such a manner is something I am proud of as captain.”
She said the team is not getting ahead of themselves as they prepare to face 11th-ranked Italy, who are sore after losing to fourth-ranked France.
