The Springbok Women had a slow start against Uganda in Nairobi on Wednesday as their defence let them down, but according to Franzel September (assistant coach), the players deserve credit for fighting back in their second match of the Rugby Africa Women’s Cup.
A mixed bag in Nairobi resulted in a 47-20 win for South Africa to maintain their unbeaten streak against African opponents, but it wasn’t their best performance of the last few years.
“We conceded two tries in the first 10 minutes, through a combination of them doing well to keep the ball alive, and us not making proper hits and dropping off first-time tackles,” September said afterwards.
“Uganda can move the ball nicely, and we did not respond to that, and we paid the price. That was a good lesson for a relatively new group of players.”
The Springbok Women regained their composure to score 47 points in the match, but they also fell foul of the referee, conceding a rash of penalties and a yellow card.
September said: “We did not adapt well to the referee, who is the person in charge, but as we took control of the match and eliminated our errors, we could get more flow in our game. Once that happened, we scored some nice tries.
“We had three new caps today, and they played well. I was also very pleased with the six players who were playing in their second Test match. It is part of the process to bring in the next group of players, and we will benefit from that decision.”
September added that they will be ready for Sunday’s final match against Kenya, who beat Madagascar 57-0 to effectively set up a decider.
“We needed some adversity to remind ourselves of the fight we have in us, and that came through today,” he said. “We recovered well and, in the end, controlled the match. That momentum takes us into our final game Sunday, and we will be ready to go.”
The match against Kenya on Sunday will start at 15:00 (SA time).