Springboks’ Nadine Roos on underdogs tag against New Zealand: They are human too
Scrumhalf Nadine Roos of the Springbok women’s rugby team expresses confidence in their ability to challenge reigning champions New Zealand in the Women’s Rugby World Cup quarter-final, emphasising the importance of strategy and belief despite being heavy underdogs. Picture: Adrian Dennis / AFP
Image: Adrian Dennis / AFP
There’s no disputing that the Springbok women come into their Women’s Rugby World Cup (RWC) quarter-final against New Zealand as massive underdogs, but SA’s star scrumhalf Nadine Roos believes her side is well equipped to take on the giants of the game.
The Springboks have only just cracked the top-10 in the Women’s World Rugby rankings, while New Zealand are third in the world and defending RWC champions.
The much-anticipated clash takes place at Sandy Park, in Exeter, on Saturday.
Roos, who scored a scintillating try in her side’s final group game, a 57-10 defeat to France, acknowledged the huge challenge which lay ahead.
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“We know this is a knockout, if you win you get to stay, if you lose you are on a plane back to South Africa,” Roos told IOL in an exclusive interview.
“Our approach is no different, we want to win and the belief is that we can do it if we implement the systems both on attack and defence. We know they are the World Champs, and there is respect for them and that they have won the World Cup on six occasions.
“But they are human just like us, and this game will come down to who wants it most.”
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Fighting words indeed. They have no choice though, as they are coming off the heavy loss to France.
“It’s never nice losing a game and losing it with a score like that, but that’s not a reflection of how the actual game went, a lot of positives can be taken out of that game.”
Whatever happens, it will still be the first time the Springbok women’s side have made it to the knockout stages of the RWC, and the game against France could have served as good preparation for the SA outfit.
“Looking at the stats we weren’t far off, I think the experience for France as a team versus our experience was the difference.
“The ladies really played their hearts out and it was just hard luck for us on the day. I believe it is up to us as experienced players to pick the group up and look at the positives and the learnings and not dwell on mistakes.”