TARGET LOCKED

The Springbok Women’s team have a clear goal ahead of the Rugby Women’s World Cup in New Zealand.

Photos: BackpagePix By: Wynona Louw

FOR Springbok women’s coach Stanley Raubenheimer, his team's recent results are a step in the right direction as they prepare for the World Cup.

The women'’ showpiece will take place in New Zealand in October.

The South Africans completed a 2-0 series clean sweep over Spain, and those two victories took them to five wins in their six matches for the year – all against higher-ranked opposition.

Prior to their positive results against the Spanish, they also secured two consecutive wins over Japan, losing just one in Kamaishi last month.

Moving up one position on the world rankings is of course a pleasing aspect for Raubenheimer, but it’s not the most important by-product from their run of results.

“It is great to move in the right direction when it comes to world ranking, but we did not start this journey four years ago with that in mind,” Raubenheimer said after their second win over Spain. “We needed to get a team ready and competitive to play at the biggest stage, the Rugby World Cup in New Zealand and I am pleased with where we are, our last in that whole journey.

“There has been a lot of work and planning done to get everything in place for the World Cup. We used almost 60 players over the four years and managed to end up with a squad at this camp that will be pretty close to the one going to New Zealand. We wanted a settled squad to travel there, and I think we managed to get pretty close to that. We finished the Spain camp with 34 players, with 32 allowed to go to the World Cup.”

At the Fanie du Toit Stadium in Potchefstroom, the Boks scored 23 unanswered points in the second half to beat Spain 37-14 after trailing 14-10 at the break.

The victory in North West marked their second win over Spain in five attempts, having lost the previous three in a row.

While their ability to fight back was a standout feature from the game, Raubenheimer would have liked to see more patience from his group in their first-ever Test played in Potch.

“We were just too eager and pushing too hard in that first half. Once we calmed things down and dictated the pace of the game, the tries came,” said Raubenheimer.

In the first Test against Spain, the Boks soared to a 44-5 victory at Ellis Park to claim a first home victory against their European counterparts.

ABOVE: The Springbok women blew Spain away at Ellis Park and Potchefstroom.