Springbok Women’s backline changes ignited attack against Canada

The Springbok Women’s backline reshuffle in the second half of Saturday’s defeat to Canada sparked the attack into life and may offer coach Swys de Bruin a blueprint for the second match this coming weekend.

The Bok Women were beaten 50-20 in a physical encounter against the world’s second-ranked team at Loftus on Saturday afternoon. Their backs struggled to cope with the smothering defence during an opening stanza where the only South African points came via a penalty landed by wing Jakkie Cilliers.

However, a raft of backline changes in the second half injected more flair and fluency into the Bok attack, as they broke the Canadian shackles and finally started asking questions of the visiting defence.

Livewire Nadine Roos was moved from fullback to scrumhalf, Eloise Webb came in at flyhalf, Libbie Janse van Rensburg slotted in at inside centre, and Byrhandrè Dolf was introduced at fullback. The changes reaped dividends for De Bruin’s charges.

“I am happy to play wherever the coach wants me to play and it went well when I moved from fullback to scrumhalf in the second half. I just want to be around the ball and where the action is and is happy that I got that chance today,” Roos said, after the match.

Cilliers was the first to profit from the newfound backline freedom, scoring the Boks' first try as they began to move the ball through the hands with greater conviction.

It was then Dolf’s turn to showcase her pace and attacking prowess as she burst down the wing to score. The diminutive utility back will have been delighted to cross the whitewash in a moment that could go some way to erasing memories of a difficult debut in the 66-7 loss to the North Americans in 2023.

Solontsi rounded off the scoring for the Boks from a rolling maul.

Bok captain Nolusindiso Booi said the pressure of playing against a top-ranked team such as Canada was massive and that created some unforced errors.

“We prepared well, but today we did not always apply ourselves well and that is disappointing,” said Booi.

“However, we saw that across the squad, the players got better and better as the game went on. We will go back, work hard and give it another go next weekend.”

De Bruin was especially critical of the high number of penalties the Bok Women conceded at the breakdown, especially with the World Cup fast approaching.  

He will be encouraged, however, by the impact of his backline rejig and the performance of the substitutes. He could look to unleash some of the new combinations earlier in next Saturday’s second Test at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Gqeberha.