Where it went wrong for the Bok Women
REACTION: Springbok Women co-head coach Laurian Johannes-Haupt did not mince her words in her assessment of South Africa’s 19-50 defeat to Wales at Cardiff Arms Park on Saturday.
The Springbok Women headed into the WXV Global Series as favourites following their recent form, which included a series win over Fiji, a win over the USA and a defeat to the Black Ferns.
They are also ranked 10th in the world, three places above Wales, who had not won a game since July 2025.
However, it all went wayward from kick-off.
South Africa leaked six first-half tries, with Wales scoring twice inside the opening 10 minutes and immediately putting the Boks under pressure.
The Springbok Women also conceded two yellow cards in the first 40 minutes, first when Lindelwa Gwala was sent to the bin for a cynical offence and soon after when Danelle Lochner was yellow carded for a high tackle, with the SA side going into half-time trailing 38-5.
Lochner’s card was upgraded to a red, and the visitors had to play against the rampant home side with 14 players for 20 minutes.
Poor discipline and execution were huge factors in an uncharacteristically sloppy first half, admitted former Springbok Women prop Johannes-Haupt.
“We did ourselves no favours with our discipline,” Johannes-Haupt said afterwards in Cardiff.
The Springbok Women conceded 11 penalties during the outing.
“Wales really came hard at us in that first half and our response was not good enough.
“We conceded too many penalties and those two cards really cost us. Obviously, we did not prepare to play like that, so it was a huge disappointment for all of us, as we let ourselves down. That is not our standard and that is not the team we are.”
The coach said they were not surprised by the way the Welsh played in the first half, so the poor discipline was not in reaction to something unexpected.
“They came out playing exactly as we expected, so our efforts to combat that were disappointing. We will have a hard look at our efforts today and why we came up short and then start our focus on Italy, our next opponent.”
Latsha said Wales deserved the win, as they were more clinical in their execution.
“We did play much better in the second half, with the difference being that we finished off much better.
“We had many chances. I think we were held up three times over the line. We are better than this performance. But that is rugby,” Latsha said.
“The Global Series showed its value tonight, top sides taking on each other and there is no definite winner when you kick off. We are disappointed about the result, but I know we will come back stronger.”
Latsha said this result will not define the team.
“The home and away aspect of this WXV brings a different challenge every week and tonight we were not good enough against a Welsh side that outplayed us.
“Next up is Italy and that is another opportunity for us to redeem this performance,” Latsha said.
The Springbok Women will travel to Italy on Sunday to start preparing for the Test match against their hosts next Saturday. Lochner will have a hearing on Monday for the red card received.
