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Ex-Wales captain secures ‘key’ WRU development role
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Springbok Women ‘established credibility’ despite loss to Black Ferns
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Springbok Women co-coach Laurian Johannes-Haupt believes her side “established credibility” despite a 52-20 defeat to the Black Ferns at FNB Stadium.
For the opening 30 minutes in the curtain-raiser to Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry’s third Test, the Springbok Women were well in the contest. Their forward pack posed physical questions to Whitney Hansen’s team.
It was not quite the effort of their Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025 exploits against the same opposition. Almost a year ago South Africa went in level with the Black Ferns at the break. This time around New Zealand led 24-10.
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“I think we have established our credibility, especially in elements like our scrumming and forward play,” Johannes-Haupt said.
“We pride ourselves on our scrum, and today it was very powerful again. We are tweaking our play here and there as we want to keep evolving, and as we saw today, not everything worked perfectly.
“However, we are happy with where we are now, and we will leave on our tour to Europe with good confidence.”
Consistency at the WXV Global Series
After Saturday’s defeat, the Springbok co-coach also confirmed that the team will continue with their current coaching structure at the WXV Global Series.
Last week, Swys de Bruin unexpectedly left his post as South Africa’s head coach ahead of the fixture in Soweto.
After the departure of De Bruin, Johannes-Haupt and Franzel September were appointed co-coaches of the Springbok Women.
Already this year the pair have enjoyed success, having led the team at the Rugby Africa Women’s Cup and against Fiji on a two-match tour. While De Bruin’s departure was sudden, there is still consistency in camp.
To aid with coaching, Junior Boks assistant coach Melusi Mthethwa has been drafted in. Over the past two years the 40-year-old has helped the Under-20s side to consecutive World Rugby Junior World Championship titles as attack coach under head coach Kevin Foote.
“For now, we will stay the way we are,” Johannes-Haupt said on Saturday. “Coach Melusi will still be part of us. It’s nice to have Melusi around. His energy has been amazing. He brings a different perspective of how he does attack.
“We’ve had coach Swys as our attacking coach, and he was brilliant as well, so this is just another variation of how we want to play.”
In September, South Africa will play Test matches against Wales and Italy, before a WXV Global Series crossover fixture against Spain in Seville. In October, on home soil, the Springboks will play Ireland in back-t0-back Test matches.
All of which provide South Africa with further opportunities to establish their credibility further on the world stage.
Read more Springbok Women coverage on Rugby365
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