It was back to the training fields of the Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025 for the Springbok Women on Tuesday with all eyes now on Italy, their second Pool D opponent in England for a match that could determine their destiny for the tournament.
Victory against the Italians will secure a top two finish for the Bok Women and a guaranteed place in the quarter-finals of the tournament.
The team went through their paces at St. John Community University in York and their attitude brought smiles to the faces of the coaching staff, with Bok Women assistant coach Franzel September very pleased with the intensity and technique from the squad.
“It was good to get back to zero again after the good win over Brazil on Sunday and the journey to York yesterday,” said September.
“We started afresh today, with the sole focus for the next couple of days on our match against Italy and what we want out of it. We saw some good things from the Brazil game and celebrated that victory, but that is in the past now. Italy is all at that matters.”
Unlike the South Africans, who excelled in the set piece on the weekend and stole four of their opponents’ lineouts, Italy had mixed results in that phase of play against France on Saturday in their tournament opener, but September said that is not necessarily a good thing for them.
“They had some issues in the France match, but they have time to fix it,” he said. “We would of course wanted them to be off the pace against us, but I doubt if that will be the case as that will be a definite work-on for them in the week.”
The SA coach said their focus remains the same for the round two match at the York Community Stadium on Sunday.
“In any World Cup you have to close the chapter after each game and start a new one with a different focus,” said September.
“We wanted to get going and gain some momentum in doing so. The 10-try win gave us all of that, but we are mindful that we need to start afresh against Italy.
“They are a very experienced side with a very good kicking game, so will challenge us in different ways to what Brazil did. We need to be ready for that. We pride ourselves on our set piece and I believe our power game will deliver the result we want this weekend.”
September said their previous two Tests against Italy, both in WXV 2 in Cape Town, showed the progress of the Bok Women.
In 2023, Italy won 36-18, but last year the Europeans could only manage a 23-19 win over the team in green and gold. With the good form enjoyed by his squad now, September feels confident of overturning the result and beating Italy for the first time.
“We are well prepared, have good momentum and the team have some self-belief that this will be our very best World Cup ever. It is all in our hands,” he said.
The squad for the Italian match will be announced on Friday. Byrhandrѐ Dolf did not train on Tuesday due to a calf strain, but she is expected to be ready for Sunday.
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