Rugby

The withdrawal of the top women’s players from the SARU Inter-Provincial Championship this year led to an acceleration of player development in all the provinces, according to Mahlubi Puzi, the SARU Manager for Women’s and Sevens Rugby.

SARU took the strategic decision to withdraw the top women’s players from the bulk of provincial duty because of preparations for the IRB Women’s World Cup later this year in England.

“It was a tough decision, but we had no choice really. The Women’s World Cup is our main objective for the season and we withdrew the players because of the various training camps and also the international series against Kazakhstan in Dubai, which the Springbok Women won 2-0.

“Luckily for SARU, it looks like our decision is starting to reap rewards. On the one hand we had the top players in the country training on a regular basis and also gaining much needed Test experience, while on the other hand we managed to develop new talent in most of the provinces because of the absence of national players,” explains Puzi.

Apart from the new pool of players making an entry onto the provincial scene, Puzi was also pleased with the overall standard of provincial rugby in the women’s game.

Western Province are the 2010 SARU Women’s Inter-Provincial champions after their 26-12 victory over the Golden Lions in the Group A Final on Saturday at Brookside in Claremont. WP led 12-0 at halftime.

SWD won the Group B title after dominating their final 31-5 against the Griffons. SWD were already 24-0 up at halftime.

“I am pleased with the growth in strength and competition of the local women’s game. The teams are much better prepared nowadays and their technical awareness and general techniques are improving all the time. A lot of credit must go to the provincial coaches, while the national players also contributed to this process with their knowledge and experience,” added Puzi.

The Springbok Women squad assembles again from 28-30 May in Cape Town for another training camp before their departure to Scotland where they will play two Tests against the hosts on 5 and 12 June.