The Springbok Women won their second Rugby Africa Women's Cup clash by 63-5 against Kenya on a windy day in Madagascar on Wednesday, remaining on course to defend their African title and book their tickets to the 2025 Rugby World Cup in England.
While they were in control for most of the game, the Bok Women were solid rather than perfect, guilty of some over-eagerness at times as they gave away possession in Kenyan territory and were also not as consistently dominant at set piece as they would have liked.
South Africa's forwards carried with intent - with Lusanda Dumke (flanker) and Vainah Ubisi (lock) leading the charge - and the backs looked for space, although they were often stopped by desperate Kenyan defence.
Jakkie Cilliers stole the show with a great performance at outside centre, scoring 23 points through a hat-trick of tries and four conversions in tricky conditions.
Despite playing with the wind in the first half, the Bok Women struggled go get going, making unforced errors in the Kenyan half and not getting the normal consistent ascendancy with their set piece.
Dumke scored the first try, after a strong run from Aphiwe Ngwevu (inside centre), in the fifth minute but it was the only highlight of the opening quarter of an hour for the South Africans.
They finally hit their stride in the 17th minute, when debutant wing Sikholiwe Mdletshe crashed over in the left corner for her first Test try, which came from a clever move from an attacking scrum.
Four minutes later Cilliers, whose goal kicking wasn't as sharp as normal due to the swirling wind, went over on the other side of the field to make it 15-0, with Ngwevu again prominent.
Mdletshe and Cilliers repeated these tries with their second five-pointers in the 28th and 32nd minutes and, at 27-0, the South Africans were firmly in control.
Kenya didn't roll over though and tested the Bok Women's defence and in the 36th minute Rose Otieno (prop) broke through a tackle or two to score for the East Africans.
But Ubisi had the final say in the first half as she powered her way over for South Africa's sixth try, with Cilliers adding her second conversion to make it 34-5 at the break.
With the Bok Women introducing some fresh legs, Nomawethu Mabenge (right wing) wasted no time in the second half to grab her 14th try in her 18th Test before Cilliers made it a hat-trick to stretch South Africa's lead to 46-5 after 10 minutes in the second stanza.
Lindelwa Gwala (replacement hooker) then scored her fourth and fifth maul tries of the campaign as the Bok Women's pack took control of the clash, the first of which was converted by Cilliers from the sideline.
Mabenge had the last say when she scored her second try in the final minute of the Test to push the Bok Women past 60 points.
Springbok Women head coach Louis Koen praised his squad for transferring the work they’ve done on the training field to match day in their big victory over Kenya in Madagascar on Wednesday, something they have not always mastered in the past.
Koen said they decided to tweak their approach for the match at Stade Makis in Antananarivo and worked on that on the training field after they overcame Cameroon in their opening match last Saturday. The changes worked out for the Bok Women in their victory, much to the delight of their coach.
“We wanted to play in a slightly different way today, so our preparation was a bit different – the players executed those changes very well and that was very pleasing,” said Koen.
“In the past, we were gulity of not transferring the training ground executions to match day but I cannot fault what they did out there today. In fact, it was exactly what we asked them to do and they responded accordingly and as a coaching staff, we are really pleased about that.”
The bonus point victory with a big margin confirmed the Springbok Women’s position at the top of the Rugby Africa Women’s Cup log but it will still come down to Sunday’s match against Madagascar to confirm the passport to Rugby World Cup 2025, to be played in England.
The host nation are also unbeaten after their 12-5 victory over Cameroon on Wednesday afternoon, their match taking place straight after the South African victory over Kenya.
Koen said that while their execution was good, there are still enough aspects for the Bok Women to work on as they prepare to face the hosts on Sunday.
“We conceded a try when our defensive line did not hold and that was disappointing, as we did not want to concede any points today,” said Koen.
“That will provide some food for thought for the rest of the week and the preparations leading into the weekend’s match. We have one more match to go and all our focus for the rest of the week will be on that clash against Madagascar.”
Score
Springbok Women 63 (34) - Tries: Lusanda Dumke, Sikholiwe Mdletshe (2), Jakkie Cilliers (3), Vainah Ubisi, Nomawethu Mabenge (2), Lindelwa Gwala (2). Conversions: Cilliers (4).
Kenya 5 (5) - Try: Rose Otieno.
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