Second-half surge shows Springbok Women’s fighting spirit in Black Ferns Test

IT'S TENNIS great Serena Williams who said, “I really think a champion is defined not by their wins, but how they can recover when they fall.”

I am willing to bet that Ms Williams would give an approving nod to the Springbok Women who this weekend took another positive step towards the Rugby World Cup in England.

The South Africans took a knock and were “down” after the first half of their match at Athlone Stadium on Saturday, but they recovered from being outplayed by New Zealand’s Black Ferns XV to outscoring and out-defending their visitors in the second half.

That was the assessment of Springbok Women performance coach Swys de Bruin, after his side’s 34-26 defeat to the New Zealanders, who were leading 20-12 at the break.

“We simply did not get going in the first half, but I have to give credit to the team for the way they adapted in the second half, where we created numerous chances,” said De Bruin.

“If we did not have one of our tries disallowed at a crucial stage in the second half, who knows what could have happened at the end.”

The Bok defence leaked four tries in the first half and only two in the second, with the South Africans playing much more direct, while they also had the benefit of a strong bench changing the tempo of the game.

“We made a call at half-time to change our approach and play more direct, and that worked for us tonight,” said De Bruin.

“It was a night where we needed physicality and the shortest route forward, and we almost managed to turn the result around, something that I am very pleased about. It is all part of the learning curve as we head to the Rugby World Cup next month.

“We had some combinations that worked for us earlier in the season, like earlier in the season against Spain, when we scored a lot of backline tries, but tonight we needed more direct and physical ball carriers, and those combinations worked best against a very skilful Black Ferns XV team.”

The South African coach said he will analyse the game in detail before deciding on next weekend’s strategy, when the two sides will again meet at the same venue. So the Bok Women can expect to be put through the wringer at practice this week. They would do well to consider what the legendary Jonty Rhodes said at one time: “I got more bruises, grass-burns, and cuts in practice than in match play”.

De Bruin added that the tough clashes against top teams is giving the Boks the opportunity to evaluate themselves and improve their systems. “We wanted these games to see what we need to do better or where we are doing well, so next weekend will be that final test for the team and the combinations. I am very proud of our effort in that second half and what clarity that gave the coaching staff.”

Babalwa Latsha, who led the Bok Women in this match and scored one of their four tries, said they don’t mind playing the game in the trenches and had no problem to heed that call from the coaches in the second half.

“We don’t mind that at all, we are good in close range rugby where we can use our physicality,” said Latsha.

“But the Black Ferns deserve credit as they showed good skills on a windy afternoon, and they really used their scoring opportunities well. Not so much for us – we created a lot of chances but did not take them all, and that will again be a work-on for us this week.”

So the Springbok Women will pick themselves up and prepare for the next encounter.

They would do well to heed another sports personality’s word of advice. Former footballer Eric Cantona says that  It’s easy to say you gave it your all out on the pitch. But the point is if you’d prepared you’d have had more to give and you would have played better”.

And “better, and still better” is what De Bruin’s Boks are striving for with each game.