Bok Women making strides

The close defeat to Italy - similarly to last weekend's match against Australia - shows that the Springbok Women have become a very competitive team on the international stage, but according to Swys de Bruin (above), they are not in a position to win the Rugby World Cup right now.

- Own

South Africa suffered a close 23-19 defeat to the Azzure at Athlone Stadium in Cape Town on Saturday, a match that saw them finish on eight league points, the same as Italy, but just behind the Europeans on points' difference.

Australia claimed the WXW 2 title by beating Scotland, who finished second on nine points, in the final game on Saturday.

“We really showed that we can play with these teams and even beat them and that is very encouraging as we move towards next year's Rugby World Cup,” said De Bruin, the Bok Women's performance coach.