Raubenheimer satisfied with Bok Women’s progress

Springbok’s women’s coach Stanley Raubenheimer has expressed satisfaction with the progress made by his charges during their training camp in Stellenbosch as the countdown continues for the Rugby World Cup in New Zealand in September.

Raubenheimer assembled a 24-man squad in early January for the first leg of the two-and-a-half-month camp, with his training squad set to expand to 40 players from March 14-28.

The Springbok Women will face France at Eden Park on Saturday, September 18 at 4:15 a.m. PT, England on Thursday September 23 at 9:15 a.m. at the Northland Events Center in Whangarei and Fiji on Tuesday September 28 at Waitakere Stadium in Auckland at 5:45 a.m. their Pool C matches.

“The camp is going well,” Raubenheimer said.

“The conditioning, which was the main focus of training camp, is improving very well, and the players are adjusting well to the load we put on them.

“Regarding the rugby aspects, we are not too far from what we want to achieve in this camp.”

With a solid foundation to work on from when the larger group of 40 players reunite, Raubenheimer said the goal will change slightly for this phase of camp.

“When the other players arrive, we’ll build on what we’ve done, but I’d also like to take the match simulation into account to see how we implement some of the aspects that we’ve been working on since last year, like we don’t. did not. a chance to do it in a match situation, ”said the coach.

“We plan to play three games as part of the extended squad and simulate almost a World Cup period, so we can see how the players are handling the challenge of playing three games in the four days one of the other.

“So the camp will be all about preparing for the game and how we are handling it.”

Raubenheimer also expected a new dynamic in the squad over the past two weeks, saying: “It’s always a good thing to have more players in the set-up.

“Every time there are new faces there is a different energy and the players who have been in the squad are pushing each other harder.

“We have a culture of hard work in our squad and I expect players who weren’t available for this part of the camp to bring a renewed freshness to training and excitement to prove they need to be here.

With less than seven months before the international showpiece kicked off, Raubenheimer was pleased with the progress the players were making.

“We’re on the right track so I’m happy with that,” said Raubenheimer.

“We have another five week camp later in the year, and since time is the only thing we don’t have, we make the most of the time we have together.