The Springbok Women started their Rugby World Cup year on a positive note with a satisfactory training camp held in Stellenbosch this week, where a lot of groundwork were done.
That was the view of the Springbok Women performance coach, Swys de Bruin, at the conclusion of the camp held from Sunday at the Stellenbosch Academy of Sport, with a group of 37 players working with De Bruin and assistant coaches Laurian Johannes-Haupt, Franzel September and Bafana Nhleko.
“I am really pleased with the camp as we got a lot of work done,” said De Bruin.
“The players responded well to the sessions as well as the physical demands we placed on them and they deserve credit for that.
“We know where we are in our road to the World Cup and that much work is still needed, but we got off on a good footing for 2025. The coaches got a lot done.”
De Bruin lauded the players for the way in which they responded, especially as the coaching team set some strict targets regarding physical conditioning.
“Players were monitored on body compositions and tasked to either lose some body fat or gain some muscle mass and 95% of them came back with positive results. That is very encouraging,” he said.
The experienced coach said the intensity of sessions impressed him as well: “That was very good. In fact, at yesterday’s defence session, I said to Bafana that the intensity reminded me of Super Rugby times, so good was it.”
The players are now returning to their home unions for the Women’s Premier Division that starts next week. They will attend another camp in Pretoria next month, with another one set for March.
“We are very grateful to the provincial coaches for allowing us to have alignment camps during their premier competition,” said De Bruin. “Their contributions in getting the players in good shape cannot be underestimated.”