Springbok Women interim coach Louis Koen named three uncapped players – Mary Zulu, Shaunique Hess and Danelle Lochner – in the starting team and added Byrhandré Dolf to the bench to face Canada in Madrid on Saturday.
She played her first Test a decade ago, and this week in Madrid, Springbok Women scrumhalf Tayla Kinsey is yet again chomping at the bit to have another opportunity to represent her country.
The need to grow the talent pool and expose new players to the Springbok Women's environment were stated goals for the squad when SA Rugby recently announced their tour to Spain and Tests against Canada and Spain.
Imagine the moment. One minute left to play in a crucial Rugby World Cup match; South Africa are awarded a penalty, and you nail it to put your side ahead 17-14 against Fiji with one more play left in the game.
SA Rugby confirmed on Wednesday that OPPO, one the world’s leading technology brands, has joined the family of sponsors as new Official Handset Partner to the Springboks and the governing body.
The Springbok Women have clear objectives they want to achieve on their two-Test tour to Spain and according to interim coach Louis Koen, they hope to return to South Africa early next month with an understood and established playing identity.
Last year’s Rugby World Cup in New Zealand did not deliver the desired results for the Springbok Women, but that did not in any way deter the passion and drive in the group to keep growing and improving as a squad.
As the 14 players present at the Springbok training camp in Cape Town in the last three weeks wrapped up their activities in Stellenbosch on Friday, Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber announced that he would host alignment sessions over two days with another eight players in Cape Town this weekend.
SA Rugby Director of Rugby Rassie Erasmus said on Wednesday he was pleased with the strides made by the Rugby Department in the last few years as the respective divisions continue to put in the hard yards to contribute to successful national teams, as well as refereeing and coaching structures.
Former Springbok flyhalf and SA Rugby’s High-Performance Manager Louis Koen has been appointed as interim head coach of the Springbok Women’s team for their tour to Spain later this month, with Junior Springbok Women’s coach Laurian Johannes-Haupt taking the reins as assistant coach on the trip.