Springbok women to play two Tests in Spain in lead up to 2025 World Cup

Cape Town — The Springbok Women's side will play two Tests in March and April in Spain, their first matches since the Rugby World Cup in New Zealand last year.

They will face Canada (March 25) and Spain a week later with both matches scheduled to take place at the Estadio Nacional de la Universidad Complutense in Madrid.

The coaching staff for the Springbok Women, ranked 13th in the world, must still be announced, though, after Stanley Raubenheimer, the coach who led the team to the World Cup last September, was let go when his contract ended in December.

The #BokWomen will kick off their season with two Tests in Spain - more here: https://t.co/ZOm69fyq2O 🇪![CDATA[]]>🇸#RiseUp #TogetherMovingForward @FNBSA pic.twitter.com/V2TNzsmswg

— Springbok Women (@WomenBoks) March 1, 2023

The opportunity to play Canada, ranked fourth in the world, and Spain (11th), who played South Africa in a two-Test series in Johannesburg and Potchefstroom last year, comes courtesy of the Pacific Four Series 2023, with the first round being hosted in Spain.

The US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand will contest the Pacific Four Series.

Lyne Cantwell, SA Rugby’s High-Performance Manager for Women’s Rugby, said in a statement that the opportunity could not have come at a better time.

Solid day's work for #BokWomen in last camp before squad is announced! @FNBSA #datewithdestiny pic.twitter.com/OjKm7GcP6W

— Springbok Women (@WomenBoks) February 28, 2023

"We have just started a new cycle that will hopefully see us being a contender at the 2025 Rugby World Cup in England. We made massive strides last year, beating Japan abroad and Spain at home, but we did not have the best of World Cups in New Zealand.

“We are starting the new cycle now and these two Test matches are the ideal opportunity to see where our starting point for 2025 should be."

@Leighton_K