The Springbok Women’s attack will rely on a playmaker at flyhalf and fullback against Spain on Thursday (5pm start) in their final Test before the WXV 2 tournament later this month.
South Africa and the Spaniards will clash at the Cape Town Stadium and Springbok Women’s performance coach Swys de Bruin only made a couple of tweaks to the team that conquered the Barbarians at the same stadium two weekends ago.
The exciting Nadine Roos will spearhead the attack at flyhalf, with fullback Libbie Janse van Rensburg promoted from the bench to cover the backline with the side looking to maintain the momentum after the 59-17 win in the Mother City. In that game, the Boks scored nine tries and want to keep up that attacking form.
Swys de Bruin has named an experienced #BokWomen team to face Spain in Cape Town on Thursday - more here: https://t.co/am1Frj5oB5 💥#MakeItCount #ETTIG pic.twitter.com/qxCop70UdJ
But they know with Spain so close to them in the world rankings, it will be a tougher match than their last one. When the Women Boks clashed with their opponents earlier this year in Valladolid, they came out trumps 15-13, so they expect a tight encounter.
“I like to play with two playmakers at 10 and 15, just like Pollie (Handré Pollard) and Willie (le Roux) at the Boks, I like to coach that way.”
“We played well against Baabaas, but the real test will be to execute the same way against Spain,” De Bruin said.
“I like to play with two playmakers at 10 and 15, just like Pollie (Handré Pollard) and Willie (le Roux) at the Boks, I like to coach that way. So, we are looking for the combinations in the right positions against Spain.
“We managed to beat a lot of defenders last time out and that was encouraging, but I would like to see our support play improve because at times it looks like we want to wait and see what the ball carrier does and the focus is not there to support the runner.
Interesting warmup session for the @WomenBoks in the Hamiltons parking lot under the watchful eye of performance coach Swys de Bruin, Bafana Nhleko, Laurian Johannes-Haupt and Franzel September. The #BokWomen will take on Spain on Thursday in Cape Town's DHL Stadium pic.twitter.com/zCuG4aHeGE
“We certainly need this win to continue with the confident start we had against the Baabaas. It meant a lot for the confidence of the players. The tight phases were also quite good although we lost some line-outs.
“I have watched recent Spain games and they are well coached and in a way, play like we do. So, it will be all about execution on the day."
Springbok Women’s starting XV: 15 Libbie Janse van Rensburg, 14 Jakkie Cilliers, 13 Eloise Webb, 12 Chumisa Qawe, 11 Ayanda Malinga, 10 Nadine Roos, 9 Tayla Kinsey, 8 Aseza Hele, 7 Sinazo Mcatshulwa, 6 Sizophila Solontsi, 5 Vainah Ubisi, 4 Nolusindiso Booi (captain), 3 Azisa Mkiva, 2 Lindelwa Gwala, 1 Sanelisiwe Charlie; Replacements: 16 Roseline Botes, 17 Yonela Ngxingolo, 18 Babalwa Latsha, 19 Danelle Lochner, 20 Catha Jacobs, 21 Felicia Jacobs, 22 Zintle Mpupha, 23 Shaunique Hess.