Poor discipline and execution were huge factors in an uncharacteristically sloppy first half by the Springbok Women against Wales on Friday night, which added significantly to their defeat at Cardiff Arms Park.
That was the verdict by Springbok Women co-coach Laurian Johannes-Haupt and team captain Babalwa Latsha after their 50-19 defeat in the opening match of their WXV Global Series tour to Europe.
The Springbok Women conceded two yellow cards in the first 40 minutes, first when Lindelwa Gwala was sent to the bin for a cynical offence and soon after when Danelle Lochner was yellow-carded for a high tackle, with the South Africans going into halftime trailing 38-5.
Lochner's card was upgraded to a red, and the visitors had to play against the rampant home side with 14 players for 20 minutes.
“We did ourselves no favours with our discipline,” said Johannes-Haupt.
“Wales really came hard at us in that first half, and our response was not good enough. We conceded too many penalties and those two cards really cost us.
“Obviously, we did not prepare to play like that, so it was a huge disappointment for all of us, as we let ourselves down. That is not our standard, and that is not the team we are.”
The Bok Women coach said they were not surprised by the way the Welsh played in the first half, so the poor discipline was not in reaction to something unexpected: “They came out playing exactly as we expected, so our efforts to combat that were disappointing. We will have a hard look at our efforts today and why we came up short and then start our focus on Italy, our next opponent.”
Latsha said Wales deserved the win, as they were more clinical in their execution.
“We did play much better in the second half, with the difference being that we finished much better,” she said.
“We had many chances; I think we were held up three times over the line. We are better than this performance. But that is rugby.
“The WXV Global Series showed its value tonight, top sides taking on each other, and there is no definite winner when you kick off. We are disappointed about the result, but I know we will come back stronger.”
Latsha said this result will not define the team: “The home and away aspect of this WXV brings a different challenge every week, and tonight we were not good enough against a Welsh side that outplayed us. Next up is Italy and that is another opportunity for us to redeem this performance.”
The Springbok Women will travel to Italy on Sunday to start preparing for the Test against their hosts next Saturday. Lochner will have a hearing on Monday for the red card received.