This past weekend the Springbok Women produced another encouraging performance against Australia at the Athlone Stadium in Cape Town, where Siya Kolisi emerged as their No 1 fan.
Kolisi, who is an avid women’s rugby follower, has been outspoken in calling for the Springbok Women’s team to receive widespread support from rugby lovers in Mzansi.
The Springbok Women recently opened their WXV 2 campaign with an impressive win over Japan, and nearly caused an upset against Australia this past weekend, fighting back valiantly before eventually falling to a narrow 33-26 defeat.
Besides being cheered on by Kolisi during the game, the Springbok captain also chatted to the women’s team in the change room before the game.
Kolisi’s speech made the defeat a little easier to absorb, but only just, according to Bok Women captain Lusanda Dumke: “Siya is such an inspirational figure to all and to have him encouraging us was huge. The way we fought back was coming from the words he spoke.
“He said when the chips are down, we should start playing for each other and the player next to you. That is exactly what transpired in those last minutes. Australia played a clever game today and congratulations to them, but it is massive for us to know that we were right in it until the very last play of the match.”
Siya Kolisi was right behind the Springbok Women’s team once again
With one round to go, the Springbok Women are third on the WXV 2 log with seven log points, Scotland are second with eight and Australia are top with 10 points after two matches.
The final round of games will be played next weekend and with Scotland and Australia playing each other, a strong win over Italy could still push South Africa to the top of the standings.
Coach Swys de Bruin said they are still a work in progress as they prepare for next year’s Rugby World Cup in England, but that it was clear that something special is building amongst the group after the 26-33 defeat.
“They really showed tremendous guts out there and that made me very, very proud,” said De Bruin.
“They just refused to accept defeat and the fact that we came a meter short of squaring the match showed the determination. We were literally a pass away from that final try after being seemingly down and out with 15 minutes to play. Much credit must go to the players, who just refused to lie down.”
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