VIDEO: 'Better years for Bok Women'
Today at 06:05 AM
WATCH as Springbok assistant coach Laurian Johannes-Haupt relays a very optimistic message regarding the preparation of her team for the World Cup.
A group of 33 players have assembled in Pretoria for the Springboks Women's second alignment camp of the year.
Johannes-Haupt along with fellow assistant coaches Franzel September and Bafana Nhleko and performance coach Swys de Bruin has been hard at work, taking the squad through their pace at Loftus Versfeld.
It is a three-day and the players will return to their respective unions on Wednesday for the third round of the Women's Premier Division.
"It is so important for us to get our girls aligned, making sure that they understand the detail," Bok Women assistant coach Johannes-Haupt said in Pretoria.
"There is a lot to do in preparation for the World Cup and this is where we finetune all the little stuff to ultimately executive at the World Cup."
Johannes-Haupt, who represented South Africa at the 2010 World Cup and was part of the coaching staff at the New Zealand showpiece last time around, said the preparations are good as it has ever been.
The Boks Women will open their World Cup campaign against Brazil, before their take on France and Italy in the pool stage.
"I think this could be one of the better years for us in terms of preparations for the World Cup.
"In the past, we did not have these many opportunities to prepare, and we are blessed to have all this time.
"We are even using this provincial tournament [Women Premier Division] to help us prepare for the World Cup.
"The girls play for more and ultimately they are becoming better."
National team captain Nolusindiso Booi agreed with Johannes-Haupt: "This is such a massive year for women's rugby, and we all want to be part of that group that will represent South Africa at the World Cup in England.
"These camps are great as it gives us that sense of purpose towards the World Cup.
"Each player gets the opportunity to work with the coaches and learn what is needed by them for the team to play at its maximum ability.
"It is great to be part of that process."
*Additional Source: SA Rugby
