The enormous gap between South Africa’s two rugby worlds

South African rugby has never been in a better place. The Springboks men’s side has just added yet another trophy to an already stuffed cabinet and the Springbok Women exceeded expectations on a remarkable run at the World Cup.

Yet the gap between South Africa’s two rugby worlds remains enormous – 20.58 ranking points separate the men’s world champions from their fast-rising female counterparts. Among nations ranked inside both top tens, no one else is even close; Ireland’s divide of 11.13 points is the next largest.

But, as the Springbok Women’s coach, Swys de Bruin, said after his side’s quarterfinal loss to New Zealand, the “potential for growth is enormous”. With a few tweaks and sound investment, South Africa can make good on de Bruin’s promise and compete for a World Cup crown in the not too distant future.

More professional teams are needed
Since turning professional in 2023, the Bulls Daisies from Pretoria have won 37 of the 38 games they’ve played across three dominant, title-winning seasons. Their 2025 campaign alone underlined the gulf they’ve opened up in South African women’s rugby, averaging a staggering 61-point winning margin as they powered to a third consecutive championship.

“We really need other teams to step up,” Jackie Cilliers, the versatile Springboks and Daisies back, said earlier this year. “It’s nice to be part of a professional group where you can just go out and have everything set up for you, but if I’m honest, there’s nothing that challenges you on game day.”

Of the 23 players who were involved in the match against New Zealand, 13 represent the Daisies including fly-half Libbie Janse van Rensburg, fullback Byrhandré Dolf and loose forward Sizophila Solontsi.

Such an imbalance is unsustainable and will only hold back South African rugby. “We need competition,” de Bruin added. That can only come about if more provincial boards adequately invest in the women’s game. Until the Daisies are challenged, the national team will bump up against a glass ceiling.

A more diverse attack is needed
With Aseze Hele rampaging from the back of the pack, and slick cohesion among the rest of the forwards around the point of contact, South Africa had a clear plan with ball in hand. They looked to keep it tight, forcing the opposition to make a series of tackles as one-off runners hammered the fringe.

When it worked – as it did against Italy and in the first half against New Zealand – it was near unstoppable. Bodies in green pounded the mainline like a relentless wave, carrying upfield with conviction and power. But when defences adjusted and the gain line stalled, there was no reliable alternative.

When required, they struggled to shift the point of attack, to stretch play wide or manipulate space through their backs. Against elite teams, that lack of variation left them predictable. Developing a more layered, ball-in-hand strategy – one that complements their physical edge with guile and width – is the next evolution they must make.

Shifting Janse van Rensburg to centre might be an option. Midfielders Aphiwe Ngwevu, Zintle Mpupha and Chumisa Qawe are hard runners, but they lack the distribution needed to spark a move from beyond first receiver. Janse van Rensburg has the heft to play through the 12 channel but also has a swift passing and kicking game that could take South Africa’s attack to a higher level of sophistication.

More fixtures against elite opposition
After beating Italy, and holding New Zealand to 10-10 at half-time, South Africa proved that they can hang with the game’s top teams. But without regular fixtures against tier one nations, they’ll struggle to sustain that level. At present, the Springbok Women’s calendar is sporadic, with long gaps between meaningful tests.

De Bruin himself has been vocal about the need for consistent high-level competition: “How can you improve if you don’t play strength versus strength?” he asked after the World Cup. It’s a question that echoes through the sport.

Ideally South Africa would slot into a permanent southern-hemisphere tournament alongside New Zealand, Australia and the Pacific Island nations (Argentina does not have a women’s programme so a like-for-like Rugby Championship would not be possible). Travel and accommodation expenses would undoubtedly be a factor, but if the national boards are serious about the growth of the women’s game an international tournament that exists beyond the WXV is needed.

The European heavyweights have the benefit of playing in an annual Six Nations. Perhaps the South Africans could take part? A cross-hemisphere “Women’s Nations Cup” model, with home-and-away legs, would ensure sustained exposure to different playing styles and refereeing interpretations.

The Springboks have shown they can physically match most teams; what they need is experience in the fine margins; tactical kicking battles, line-speed adaptation, and last-quarter composure under scoreboard pressure. You can only learn that by living it repeatedly.

More exposure in elite leagues
While the Bulls Daisies have set the domestic standard, South Africa’s players need more consistent exposure to the tempo and precision of top-tier leagues like England’s Premiership Women’s Rugby. It’s no coincidence that the tournament provided 129 players to this year’s World Cup, with nations such as England, Canada and Wales all fielding sides heavily populated by PWR professionals.

Only a handful of South Africans have experience in the world’s top league so far. Zintle Mpupha with Exeter Chiefs, Babalwa Latsha and Aseza Hele with Harlequins and Catha Jacobs with Saracens and Leicester Tigers, and Danelle Lochner, also at Harlequins. Two of them remain active in the league, while the rest have returned home to strengthen the Bulls Daisies or their provincial sides.

“Women’s rugby in South Africa is of course not as developed as it is in England,” Latsha told Rugbypass in 2023 during her spell with Harlequins. “Everything I learn here I’ll take back to South Africa. I want to help raise the standard any way I can.”

The benefits of those stints are clear: players exposed to full-time, elite environments return sharper, more adaptable, and better equipped to make decisions under pressure, bringing back habits in analysis, conditioning, and tactical precision that lift everyone around them. South Africa doesn’t yet have the domestic depth to replicate that intensity, so creating formal pathways into overseas leagues is crucial, ensuring a steady stream of talent gains experience abroad without draining the local game.