Coach Stanley Raubenheimer is adamant the Springbok Women reached several objectives in the Test against France despite losing by 43 points. MARIETTE ADAMS reports from Vannes.
South Africa were on the receiving end of a 46-3 defeat against France in Vannes on Saturday, with the visitors’ only points coming right at the end of the game.
Prior to that, the Bok Women struggled to enter opposition territory or to exert any dominance, as they had to defend their own line for large parts of the encounter.
They ultimately conceded seven tries, with France able to break down the defence with relative ease to put on a masterclass in clinical execution and finishing.
But Raubenheimer believes the lopsided score does not tell the full story of the match.
“We stayed in the match until the very last play, and we got a reward in the end, which was very pleasing for us,” Raubenheimer said afterwards.
“We had a number of objectives we wanted out of this game and areas where we wanted to test ourselves against one of the top teams in the world.
“Our ball carrying was one – we wanted to hold onto the ball for longer, but we did not quite get that right. When we did, like in the last couple of minutes, we scored points, even if it was only a penalty.
“We got rewarded for applying pressure on France and that was a win for us, even if only a small one in the context of the game.”
Raubenheimer was, however, disappointed with his charges’ inability to make territorial gains and to wrestle back possession at key stages of the clash. But he added that given more time together as a group, the squad will improve in that area of their game.
“We did not do that well, to be honest about it and it will certainly be a work-on,” he said.
“We have not played for three months and only assembled a couple of days ago, so it was expected that we would make mistakes, but at least we have an idea now and I am not despondent at all. The whole reason why we played France today was to see where we are in terms of our game.”
Another point of concern was the team’s discipline – or lack thereof – when put under pressure.
South Africa conceded 12 consecutive penalties early in the first half, which set them back considerably, before winning one of their own. The ill-discipline continued in the second half, resulting in fullback Eloise Webb being sent off with a yellow card.
And yet, Raubenheimer defended his team’s lack of discipline, saying France’s total dominance was of such nature that his team was forced to make errors in judgement.
“I don’t think it was ill-discipline per se, rather mistakes when we were put under pressure by France, who did apply a lot. We made some errors in judgement, but that will improve as we go along. We can only improve from here,” he explained.
Captain Cindy Booi was frank about the team’s performance, but says they are confident that the positives in the match outweigh the negatives: “It was a difficult match. Everything we expected to happen, happened. But that said, we did make unnecessary mistakes and we did not rectify them quickly enough and that cost us.”
SA Rugby Magazine’s Mariette Adams is in France – courtesy of Air France and Explore France – home of the 2023 Rugby World Cup.
