VIDEO: WP Women opt for slow and steady race to top

01/20/2025 08:32 AM

IN THE SPOTLIGHT: With South Africa's Women's Premier division set to get underway this week, rugby365 sits down with Western Province Women coach Stanley Raubenheimer to get his take on the upcoming tournament and his team's preparation.

WP Women have played back-to-back Premier Division Finals in the last two seasons but fell short in both matches to Bulls Daisies.

This season the team kicked off their campaign with a match against Cheetahs Queens in Cape Town on January 25.

WP Women's head coach Raubenheimer is eager to eclipse their previous season.

However, he admitted it won't be like last year with the teams revamping their coaching structures.

"We have a young team and what we achieved was fantastic to get to the final again," Raubenheimer said, adding: "And beating the Bulls was a bonus.

"The expectation is always if we can repeat the same feat and that is our focus.

"But this year you have Aschin Klein at Cheetahs Queens, Thomas Chowles at Boland Dames, and Jason Hector at Sharks, so you have quality coaches coming into the game and the league is just getting better.

"It's not going to be that easy and straightforward but hopefully we can achieve the same thing and even a step better."

He added: " Klein was part of the Bulls Daisies team last year and with that comes a wealth of experience and knowledge. So we expect them to be much more competitive - like they say a new broom sweeps clean.

"But our focus is on ourselves and what we need to do and the most important game is the first game."

The top eight teams will compete in a single round, making the season unorthodox. The Final will be contested by the two top teams on the log after the league phase and is scheduled for Saturday, March 28.

The early start and early finish are to help the Springbok Women's team prepare for the World Cup 2025.

Raubenheimer said the early start has been accompanied by some hurdles.

"It has been a challenge. It is very difficult to prepare the team for a competition that starts this early - it has never been done in South Africa.

"November and December are peak time for the people that are working and the students have exams, so you can't put additional pressure on them to be at training.

"The fact that national camps also took place during this period does not help, but we do understand the reasoning behind and we support it."

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The coach said that while the union is obtaining professional franchise status, they are working hard to produce a sustainable plan that will help the athletes.

"At the moment we have players who get some financial rewards, but they can't leave their job

"Our biggest aim at WP is to let the players understand what professionalism means. What is expected from you as a player and what is expected from us as an employer? How does the union work and what are your rights that take time?

"Therefore our view is long-term and we have a very young squad we want to keep for the next eight to 12 years, where we can actually put the building blocks in place for a sustainable future of the game Western Province."

When asked if lucrative deals from other professional teams, like Bulls Daisies and abroad, are a concern, he said, "Players leave every season.

"I do feel it is important for Western Province not to look at other teams, because it might deuterate your eyes from the ball.

"Eight years is a long time in a women's game because women want the children, the family, but hopefully, they see they can always return."