Springbok Women draw confidence from four-try display against New Zealand

The Springbok Women believe their performance in a 52-20 defeat by New Zealand at FNB Stadium has demonstrated clear progress as they prepare for their European tour.

South Africa scored four tries and controlled significant periods of Saturday’s Test against the second-ranked team in women’s rugby, who are six-time Rugby World Cup champions.

That performance left co-head coaches Laurian Johannes-Haupt and Franzel September encouraged by the direction of the team in 2026, despite the margin of defeat.

“I think we have established our credibility, especially in elements like our scrumming and forward play,” said Johannes-Haupt.

The Springbok Women’s scrum was a particular source of satisfaction for Johannes-Haupt, who said the team continued to develop its attacking approach despite some areas falling short against the Black Ferns.

“We pride ourselves on our scrum and today it was very powerful again. We are tweaking our play here and there as we want to keep evolving and as we saw today, not everything worked perfectly.

“However, we are happy with where we are now, and we will leave on our tour to Europe with good confidence.”

Johannes-Haupt also praised New Zealand for the quality of their performance and said the Black Ferns had exposed weaknesses that South Africa could address.

“They play some very good rugby at times and showed us some shortcomings in our game. But that is the only way to improve, to learn from mistakes.”

September said the coaches would not overlook the errors that contributed to New Zealand scoring several relatively straightforward tries.

“We played well at times and made mistakes at times, so there is more than enough work-ons for us to keep us honest,” said September.

The co-head coach nevertheless believes the Springbok Women have made consistent progress throughout the season. That development has included the Rugby Africa Women’s Cup, the Tests against the United States and the tour of Fiji.

“We have progressed well though and I believe there has been good improvement in our season. We have also seen the growth of the players from those first performances in the Rugby Africa Women’s Cup, through the USA Tests and the tour to Fiji.

“Today’s match proved that we are progressing in the right direction. Scoring four tries against New Zealand was proof of that.”

The squad will have a short break before returning to Stellenbosch on Wednesday.

September said the touring group for the upcoming Tests against Wales, Italy and Spain would be confirmed after the coaches had received medical reports on some players.

The European fixtures will give South Africa an opportunity to build on the attacking and set-piece strengths displayed against New Zealand, while addressing the defensive mistakes highlighted in their latest Test.