Springbok Women head coach Louis Koen praised his team's effort in a close opening match in WXV2 against Scotland in Stellenbosch on Friday afternoon and said the experience gained from the encounter will benefit them hugely.
Despite losing by 31-17 at the Danie Craven Stadium, Koen felt the Bok Women gave a good account of themselves against a team placed three positions higher on the world rankings.
“We were only seven points behind with five minutes to play and then lost two lineouts as well two kicks to touch and that cost us in the end,” said Koen.
“We just lacked composure at times and that was the difference for me. We had moments where we could grab the momentum, but then we failed to do so.
“We will improve with matches like this – we need to play opponents such as Scotland and that is why playing in WXV is so important.
“The issues we had and the mistakes we made are things we can work on and improve. Generally, I am pleased with the overall effort and how we responded to the challenge laid down by Scotland.”
Koen said the positives from their performance were the scrums – Scotland conceded a string of scrum penalties against the Bok Women – and their defensive effort.
“Our scrums were again exceptional, and our defensive structure held up well, although we did slip up with one or two missed tackles,” said Koen.
“We came off the line with good speed and that was pleasing. We created some very uncomfortable moments for them because of that.”
Koen said the focus will now move to Italy, their opponents for next Friday at Athlone Stadium in Cape Town: “We will take the lessons learned to heart and make sure we improve. The match against Italy will be another much-needed opportunity for us to become a better team.”