Springbok Women depart for World Cup 'excited but accountable', says coach De Bruin

The Springbok Women’s team departed for England and the World Cup on Thursday evening with excited coach Swys de Bruin describing himself as a kid before Christmas.

De Bruin, speaking after his team had had one last training session at Parktown Boys High in Johannesburg, said: “It is like Christmas Eve for me and I’m wondering if Santa has left that shiny bicycle under the tree.

“I woke up at 3am this morning, going over moves and selection. You are always wondering if there was that little bit more you could have done because these girls are so coachable. They soak up information like a sponge.”

The Bok Women have had a busy week of farewells. And now it's showtime with their first game next Sunday against Brazil.

“It is unreal the support we are getting,” the coach said. “The farewell functions we had on Wednesday night were incredible. (SA Rugby President) Mark Alexander had everyone in tears with his speech. We realised what an emotional country we are rugby-wise; it is in our blood. We have been treated so well by our sponsors.

“But now we must put all of that on the back burner. We must be proud, but focus on the job at hand, which is to score tries and win games.

“We board the plane feeling we are accountable and must go and show what we can do."

We are very aware of the pool and where the opposition are ranked and their strengths and weaknesses, but it is my job to make sure we don’t get ahead of ourselves.

The South Africans are in Pool D and play Brazil, Italy and France. They must win two of those matches to qualify for the quarter-finals.

“Italy are seventh on the world rankings, France fourth, we are 12th, and Brazil are well behind us,” De Bruin pointed out.

“We are taking a leaf out of Rassie Erasmus’s book. At the last World Cup he said their first game, against Scotland, was everything.

“Likewise for us, Brazil is the most important game. If we slip up against them, it will be tough from then on. The whole mood would drop.

“Brazil have their Sevens players back and they are good at Sevens — they have five players in their backline from the Sevens.

“We are preparing for Brazil, and after that the focus will be on Italy. Of course, the coaching staff have been analysing all the teams in our pool up to the France game, but it is one step at a time.”

De Bruin has selected a squad comprising 20 players who participated in the last World Cup. At the World Cup before that, they had three players who had played in a World Cup, so the intellectual property is far higher this time.

“For sure, our experienced players will have an impact. The more caps you have, the better you deal with the pressure.

“Yes, we have had some easy games in the Africa Cup, but in this recent series with the Black Ferns, we showed what it means to play in a pressure game.

“Beating the Black Ferns was huge for us. It has given us confidence without arrogance. Because as soon as you think you have arrived in sport, you slip up hard.

“But we needed that win over a strong New Zealand team. We know we beat a strong side, and once the belief is there, it is exciting.”