Springbok Women’s coach Stanley Raubenheimer was delighted on Saturday as his charges booked their place in the 2021 Women’s Rugby World Cup in New Zealand with a 39-0 victory against Kenya in the deciding match of the qualifiers at the Bosman Stadium in Brakpan.
The win marked a clean sweep for the Springbok Women in the competition and wrapped up a full-house of points from their three matches, following 89-5 and 73-0 victories against Uganda and Madagascar earlier in the tournament.
The Springbok Women ran Kenya ragged early on, which saw them earn their fourth try early in the second quarter and take a 24-0 lead at the break, and they built on this is in a competitive second stanza in which they added three more tries to their tally for the 39-0 win.
In the other match, Madagascar and Uganda played to 15-15 draw in a gripping encounter, in which both teams ran hard on attack and defended with intent.
“I am very pleased for the players, they worked very hard to achieve this. They put in a great effort and they deserve this achievement,” a delighted Raubenheimer said after the match.
He was pleased with the quality of his team’s performance throughout the qualifiers, but he said there was room for improvement as they prepare to face Spain once and Scotland twice in Port Elizabeth and Cape Town respectively in September and October.
“We scored a number of tries in our three matches in this tournament, so we are on the right track in that regard,” said Raubenheimer.
“But I think we can improve on our accuracy on attack, and I also think we need to work on our defence and kicking game. The good thing is that we will be able to work on those areas in the next few matches.”
%%%twitter https://twitter.com/kenyalioness?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@kenyalioness!! @Springboks @RugbyAfrique @WorldRugby pic.twitter.com/xZXyWkm6DF
— Springbok Women (@WomenBoks)
Raubenheimer drew comfort from the fact that he had close to two years to prepare his team for the international showpiece Down Under.
“It will certainly helps to qualify so well in advance. We didn’t participate in the 2017 World Cup, so we need to ensure that we reach the current world standards,” he said.
“The matches will also offer us an opportunity to experiment against quality teams, who are among the top 10 sides in Europe, and we can also try a few new things against them.”
Points-Scorers:
Springbok Women 39 – Tries: Zintle Mpupha, Lindelwa Gwala, Tayla Kinsey, Snenhlanhla Shozi, Aseza Hele, Mathrin Simmers, Rights Mkhari. Conversions: Tayla Kinsey (2).