'The best is yet to come' for Boks Women

REACTION: Springbok Women assistant coach Laurian Johannes-Haupt vowed that the Springboks women's team will take their game to the next level as they get ready to host the WXV 2.

South Africa Women recorded their first win over a star-studded Barbiarians, beating them 59-17 at the Cape Town Stadium on Saturday.

The Bok women ran in nine tries over against three of the Barbarians in the curtain raiser for the Rugby Championship Round Four clash between Springboks and All Blacks.

The first meeting between the South Africa Women’s XV and the Barbarian Women – in front of a then-record crowd of 29,581 at Twickenham Stadium in November 2021 – resulted in a 60-5 domination by the famous Black and White.

"It was really special for us to play here [at Cape Town Stadium]," said Bok assistant coach Johannes-Haupt after the match in Cape Town.

"I'm extremely proud of how the girls went about their business.

"We were solid at our attack play as well as our set-piece."

The result is a massive confidence boost for the Springboks women, who will face Spain in a warm-up match before the the highly anticipated WXV 2 later this month.

"The best is yet to come," said Johannes-Haupt.

"It is a great foundation that we just laid down.

"Next one is Spain and then we are into the tournament [ WXV 2], where we ultimately want to showcase all our plans.

"We can't expose all our plans at once, so there are still more to come."

Johannes-Haupt had huge praise for former Springbok consultant and Lions coach Swys de Bruin and former Junior Boks coach Bafana Nhleko, who joined the Boks Women last month.

The pair's expertise has proven to be fruitful, with the Bok Women showing immense potential.

"Their impact has been massive," said Johannes-Haupt when asked about De Bruin and Nhleko's addition to the team.

"The burst of energy they came into our system with was special. They want to add an extra dynamic to our game and that is exactly what they did.

"They came to scrunch up our defence and attack. We are now forming into a formidable holistic team and that is testament to their contribution in such a short time."

On a personal level, Johannes-Haupht said she is learning a lot of them.

And labelled the coaching duo as 'walking rugby dictionaries'.

The Bok Women will take a short break and will assemble on September 15 to prepare for the Test against Spain on September 19 at Cape Town Stadium.