Springbok Women Defeat New Zealand at the Athlone Stadium
The Springbok Women delivered a powerful statement ahead of the Rugby World Cup with a convincing 41–24 win over New Zealand’s Black Ferns XV at Cape Town’s Athlone Stadium. The result evens the two-match series and gives the South Africans a major confidence boost with just 20 days to go before the tournament kicks off in England.
After narrowly losing to the Kiwis last weekend at the same venue, the Bok Women came back with fire—dominating with their forward pack and feeding off the energy of a lively home crowd. Their physicality and discipline paid off as they crossed the line seven times, four of those in the first half, giving them a 24–12 lead at the break.
They didn’t let up in the second half. The final try came in classic Bok fashion—through sheer power—when replacement hooker Luchell Hanekom bulldozed her way over. After a TMO review confirmed the try, the referee also showed a red card to New Zealand’s replacement hooker for repeated infringements. South Africa then held strong in the final minutes to seal a famous victory.
Performance coach Swys de Bruin couldn’t hide his pride. He said the turnaround from last week’s 34–26 defeat showed just how far the team had come, both mentally and physically.
He praised the players for taking ownership of their performance and making the necessary changes.
“I think we are now close to where we wanted to be a few weeks out from the Rugby World Cup. The team really played well tonight and executed the tweaks we made very well, and that delivered not only a winning result but also a boost of confidence to the squad and management. We worked hard to get to this point, and I can honestly say this was one of the best performances we had since I joined the squad just over a year ago,” said De Bruin.
He revealed that it all started the day before the match, during the jersey presentation. Team captain Babalwa Latsha gave an emotional speech that fired up the squad.
“It started with our jersey presentation yesterday when Babalwa (Latsha) made a wonderful speech to the team, and they embraced the message she delivered that it was time to take the opportunities that they create,” he said. “They showed exactly that today; it was such an inspiring performance.”
Follow Us on Google News for Immediate Updates
The post Springbok Women Defeat New Zealand at the Athlone Stadium appeared first on iHarare News.
