Another opportunity to improve for Bok Women
The focus on another victory and the winning margin will not be driving the Springbok Women at City Park on Thursday when they take on Namibia in Pool A of Rugby Africa’s Women’s Cup, but the way in which they go about to achieve that.
Babalwa Latsha, who will lead the team onto the field against their African neighbours in a second-round match, said if their processes are followed, the score will reflect that, as their mission is a simple one.
“We need time on the field to improve and this is yet another opportunity for us to do so,” said Latsha.
“The focus will be on us and what we want to achieve. There is always something that you can get better at and for us, this match will be such an occasion.
“We have things we want to execute out there and the score line will be an indication of how well we do. If we manage to a lot of good things, the score board will reflect that.”
The South Africans are ranked 13th in the world and Namibia outside the top 50, but Latsha said the match remains an important one in the wider context of rugby as well.
“It is wonderful to see more and more women’s teams from the African continent playing the game and coming into the test arena,” she said.
“That is what we all want to see, for the game to grow in Africa the same way it is growing in other parts of the world. We want to be the benchmark for those other African teams, and we need to set the bar as high as possible in order to pull everyone up to be better.
“But more than that, we have to use this opportunity for ourselves as well. We need to be as best prepared as possible come Rugby World Cup and for that, we need time on the field. So, we should not miss the opportunity to grow us a squad and develop our games in the areas we want to.”
Match details: Springbok Women v Namibia
Venue: City Park, Cape Town
Referee: Eri Kamimura (Japan)
Assistant referees: Saudah Adiru (Uganda), Zoe Naude (South Africa)
TMO: Egon Seconds (South Africa)
Kick-off: 15h00
TV: SuperSport channel 211
Springbok Women versus Namibia:
- Nadine Roos – 3 tests, 5 points (1 try)
- Nomawethu Mabenge – 5 tests, 20 points (four tries)
- Zintle Mpupha – 10 tests, 66 points (12 tries, 3 conversions)
- Aphiwe Ngwevu – 8 tests, 30 points (6 tries)
- Ayanda Malinga – 5 tests, 25 points (5 tries)
- Libbie Janse van Rensburg – 4 tests, 18 points (2 tries, 4 conversions)
- Tayla Kinsey – 18 tests, 44 points (2 tries, 14 conversions, 2 penalty goals)
- Sizophila Solontsi – 9 tests, 20 points (4 tries)
- Sinazo Mcatshulwa – 11 tests, 20 points (4 tries)
- Lusanda Dumke – 11 tests, 20 points (4 tries)
- Lerato Makua – 1 cap, 0 points
- Nompumelelo Mathe – 6 caps, 0 points
- Babalwa Latsha (captain) – 12 tests, 10 points (2 tries)
- Lindelwa Gwala – 13 tests, 10 points (2 tries)
- Yonela Ngxingolo – 13 tests, 5 points (1 try)
Replacements:
- Roseline Botes – 2 tests, 0 points
- Asithandile Ntoyanto – 8 tests, 5 points (1 try)
- Azisa Mkiva – uncapped
- Nomsa Mokwai – 3 tests, 0 points
- Nokubongo Siko- uncapped
- Unam Tose – 6 caps, 0 points
- Zenay Jordaan – 30 caps, 79 points (10 tries, 10 conversions, 3 penalty goals)
- Simamkele Namba – 1 cap, 0 points
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