Hard work and a little kindness will boost Bok women
Third World Cup campaign has been disappointing, but some understanding will go a long way
When the final whistle blew after Fiji’s last-gasp try against the Springbok women, the disappointment was etched on the faces of the
South Africans.
The Springbok women’s team went into their clash with Fiji as favourites. After all, they were ranked 11 places higher than their opponents at the time.
In fact, grouped with world number one England and fourth-ranked France, the South Africans had eyed the Fiji contest as the fixture they could win to boost their chances of qualifying for the knockout stage as one of the best third-placed finishers.
Had they succeeded, it would have been the first time that the South Africans made it to the knockout stage of a World Cup. In the three World Cups the team has previously played in, 10th place is the highest they have ever finished.
The tussle against the Fijiana was also meant to serve as a canvas for the Bok women to paint a picture of the progress they have made in the past three years. However, there are never any definites in sport. It can be a game defined by upsets.
That’s what the match against Fiji was. A coup d’etat of sorts for the Pacific islanders, who are on their own journey of self-discovery. Much like it would’ve been significant for the Springboks, the victory for Fiji will be a sentimental 0ne. After all, it was the nation’s first at a women’s World Cup.
Not a failure?
When quizzed on whether he felt that the team had failed in their World Cup campaign with their loss to Fiji, South Africa’s director of rugby Rassie Erasmus reminded journalists that, between 2014 and late 2018, the Bok women had not played any rugby.
This meant South Africa did not even attempt to send a team to the World Cup in 2017. During this period, it looked as if the strides made since the Boks had played their first intentional Test in 2004 would be flushed down the drain.
At that time, SA Rugby had opted to reassess its approach to the growth of women’s rugby. It was cognisant of the fact that female rugby players do not enjoy the same developmental and grassroots exposure to rugby as their male counterparts.
“The women’s 15s programme was closed down because there was just simply no pathway for women,” said Erasmus. Some who played for the Springboks had only played four matches in their lives, he said.
“First of all, it was life-threatening to them, playing against some professional players [from other countries]. Second of all, it wasn’t fair to the South African [rugby brand] – as well as the Springbok women brand – to let those [women] play against teams that were fully professional,” he continued.
“So, we closed down the women’s 15s and started youth training centres where we just got the girls playing rugby, enjoying rugby and socialising. Because we don’t have the natural school path [for girls] similar to what boys have when they are at school.”
Erasmus, after his World Cup triumph with the men’s Springbok side in 2019, was charged with leading the upward trajectory of the women’s side. Soon after, experienced and highly respected Irish women’s rugby legend Lynne Cantwell joined the ranks as the high-performance manager for both the women’s sevens side and the 15s.
“It got to a point where women’s 15s is now our second-highest priority. It is ranked higher than the Junior Springboks, as well as the Blitzboks. So, it’s the men’s Springboks and women’s Springboks,” Erasmus said.
“I believe if we didn’t intervene, they wouldn’t have made the progress they have made. The Japanese men’s side, in 1995, conceded 145 points to the All Blacks. We prevented that from happening to the Bok women. We’ve now got 19 contracted players and [women] who’ve played a lot of Test matches… Yes, we targeted the Fiji match [as a barometer of our progress], but I don’t think it was a failure. There’s definitely been progress.”
Taking stock
Progress has definitely been made. The Boks went into this latest edition of the World Cup ranked in their highest-ever position in the global rankings (11th).
In preparation for the showpiece, the team also demonstrated that tangible progress had been made. They did this by beating Japan – away from home – and Spain on South African soil. Both these were milestones, with one being the team’s first triumph on foreign soil, and the other was their maiden victory over the Spaniards.
South African financial services provider FNB also banked on the Boks, springing on board as a headline sponsor two months before the World Cup. It was an acknowledgement of the strides made by the team since its first Test match 18 months previously.
Naturally, the players and the technical team did not head to New Zealand with defeat on their minds. They may have been cognisant of the threat posed by the French and the English, but they were never going to just roll over and fall victim to these teams.
Fiji, though, was an opponent the Boks would have had a spring in their step against.
“We did target the Fiji game for a win when we planned our campaign. We were hoping to get at least a bonus point from the matches against France and England,” said Boks’ forwards coach Eddie Myners.
It was not to be. The players have no choice but to look at themselves as well. It may have been the heaviness of the occasion and the self-imposed pressure of trying to shine the spotlight on women’s rugby in the country (some people are not even aware it exists).
Either way, both their opening matches could have been played with fewer individual errors, as well as tighter discipline in the team.
“Things have not worked out for us. It is disappointing. But we still have one more go at it. We now need to beat England to make it into the next round. Stranger things have happened. We are certainly not going down without a fight,” added Myners.
The outstanding achievements of the men’s Bok side means there will always be comparisons between them and the women’s outfit. These are unfair, of course. The men have a head start of decades on their counterparts.
“We’re in the infant stage of our development. Doing well [at the World Cup] will raise eyebrows. But the goal is to make people aware that women can play the game, they want to play the game and that they shouldn’t be restricted. Realistically we’re very far away. But we’re improving,” said Bok coach Stanley Raubenheimer in the build-up.
“It’s easy to market a team when they’re challenging for World Cups. But we require patience, and a little kindness as well.”
The team will also require some introspection upon the culmination of this latest campaign. The Boks will walk away from their first World Cup since 2014 with some harsh lessons on the playing front. However, there is no doubt that more can be done to incentivise female rugby players in South Africa. It’s a development that may take the team to even great heights.