Rassie commits to growing women's rugby in SA
IN THE SPOTLIGHT: South Africa Director of Rugby Rassie Erasmus revealed that only verbally committing to growing women’s rugby is a thing of the past.
Speaking in a virtual media briefing along with SA Rugby’s High-Performance Manager for Women’s Rugby, Lynne Cantwell, Erasmus outlined a plan to elevate the women’s game in South Africa.
Erasmus’ plan includes making the game more accessible to women all around South Africa and increasing visibility.
He made it clear that the deliberate actions from his department will not only benefit the national women’s teams but also coaches and younger players hoping to get into the game of rugby.
A strong base of younger players entering the game will be part of the strategy to boost the profile and acceptance of women playing the sport.
“We will find a South African way to grow the game as we are a unique country and to copycat systems from elsewhere is not going to work,” said Erasmus.
“We need rugby to be taught and endorsed from a women’s perspective; we have seen in the past that you cannot just copy a men’s programme and expect it to work. We tried that in the past and learned from our mistakes.
“We will have a competitive system, sooner rather than later, but we are also realistic and know it will not be possible to perform any miracles.”
#ICYMI: South Africa’s Director of Rugby Rassie Erasmus has revealed why Wales are such a challenging opponent. #SixNations #Wales https://t.co/TJ8Tm0tKYt
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Erasmus, who led the Springboks to the 2019 World Cup and on top of the World Rugby Rankings, has pleaded for patience with the Springbok Women and Springbok Women’s Sevens teams, who are ranked 13th and 12th in the world respectively.
He also urged sponsors to come forward and help build the game.
“For us, elevating our women’s programme will not create miracles, as we can’t immediately put resources towards them without impacting on the Springbok Sevens and Junior Springboks, for example,” Erasmus said.
“We have reached out to some sponsors in this regard and there have been promising talks, but at the same time we are encouraging potential sponsors to come forward and become part of that will be an incredible journey.”
Former Ireland international Cantwell said the two national women’s teams will have a busy 2022, which includes two Rugby World Cups tournaments.
“Our Springbok Women had a very successful tour to France, Wales and England in November last year, where the squad were exposed to the rigours of test rugby and also experienced the intensity of rugby at that level,” she said.
“We are planning six matches for them – depending on the COVID situation – in the lead-up to the Rugby World Cup in New Zealand in October.”
The Springbok Women’s Sevens team will contest the Rugby Africa Sevens in Tunisia at the end of April and if they are successful, they will qualify for the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham in July.
They have also set their sights on an invitation to play in the World Rugby Sevens Series later this year, and hopefully to then qualify as a core team or the circuit.
The Rugby World Cup Sevens in Cape Town in September is another milestone for the squad as it will lead to more exposure for the players.
Compiled by Leezil Hendricks
