women
international women
The Springbok women are relishing the opportunity to compete against the world’s best in the WXV Global Series.
On Friday night, South Africa start their autumn campaign against Wales at Cardiff Arms Park. In the weeks following, the Springbok Women will play test matches against Italy, Spain and then a series of two tests against Ireland in Cape Town.
Coming into the WXV Global Series, South Africa played a lot of rugby. In the summer alone, the team enjoyed two Test series against USA The Women’s Eagles and Fiji, as well as a one-off clash with the Black Ferns in rugby’s biggest rivalry. They won three of those Tests and lost two.
Now led by co-coaches Laurian Johannes-Haupt and Franzel Septembra, following the departure of Swys de Bruin as head coach, the team look forward to their final match in 2026.
“We wanted to be a part of it WXV Global Series for a reason, the main one being the opportunity to play with the best teams in the world,” said Johannes-Haupt.
“That opportunity starts on Friday. It’s going to be tough. Wales are also a dominant team going forward, as are we, so it’s going to be an interesting match.”
There has been a late change to the Springbok women’s team. On the eve of their departure from Cape Town, Anacadia Minnaar was unable to make the trip and Felicia Jacobs was invited.
The 28-year-old scrum-half played in both Springbok Women’s Tests against Fiji in August. Jacobs made her Springbok Women debut against Wales in 2019.
After training in the rain at Cardiff Metropolitan University on Monday, the focus is on securing a first win against Wales since 2010.
“Look, there’s nothing you can do about the weather and it’s going to be like this for the rest of the week, so the sooner we adjust the better,” she said.
“We trained in the sun before we came but it’s not the end of the world. We have a chance to take on a class team like Wales and that’s something we’ll take this week.”