File pic. Simamkele Namba of South Africa celebrates with Ayanda Malinga and Chumisa Qawe of South Africa after scoring a try; Twickenham, London, England, Autumn Series International rugby, Barbarians Women versus South Africa Springbok Womens XV. Picture: John Patrick Fletcher/Action Plus/Shutterstock/BackpagePix
Cape Town - Springbok Women’s forwards coach Eddie Myners says their preparation for the World Cup is well on track.
The Women Boks completed a two-week camp in Cape Town on Friday, and Myners explained the more physical nature of men’s teams - and facing them in warmup games - provided them with the step-up up they needed.
“One of the key issues identified on our November Series tour against France, Wales, the full-contact against England and the match against the Barbarians was that we needed to step up physically,” said Myners.
“Those teams have well-established players who are amongst the most physical in the women’s game and we were not up to their standards.”
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Two live training sessions – both against men – took place during the camp.
During these sessions, the Women Boks went up against Hamilton’s Under-20 side and the Cape Peninsula University of Technology.
“Training against these two teams during this camp was a deliberate plan to address the question of physicality, coupled with our focus to improve in set-phase play and better execution of our exit strategies,” Myners said.
“We had a 50% line-out return against Hamilton and upped that to 67 percent against CPUT on Wednesday, while we were also successful on our own ball in the scrum against the two teams.
“That was great for us, as the players responded and improved as the camp progressed. That is what we asked for and we cannot fault that effort.”
Great hit-out against @CPUT today. Just what was needed to close out a very productive #BokWomenCamp2 #TogetherMovingForward pic.twitter.com/FRerjTCtGg
— Springbok Women (@WomenBoks) March 30, 2022
The 31-player squad is in preparation for the World Cup in New Zealand, where France, England and Fiji will meet the South Africans in the group stages in October.
“In a nutshell, we improved in every area and that is rewarding. The players came to grips with what is expected, and the growth was such that we are on track for New Zealand, without doubt,” Myners said.
A number of specialist camps will take place in the forthcoming weeks, with Springbok scrum coach Daan Human again assisting with the tight five, while kicking consultant Braam van Straaten will spend a day with the squad’s kickers.
The players will then be released to their provinces for the start of the SA Rugby Women’s Premier Division that will kick off during the weekend of April 23.
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