Libbie Janse van Rensburg of South Africa celebrates scoring a try during the Women’s 2025 Rugby World Cup against Brazil in England. Janse van Rensburg said she wants to build on that momentum in their clash against eighth-ranked USA on 4 July at Ellis Park. (Photo: Paul Harding / Getty Images) The Springbok Women will face the USA Eagles in a two-Test series this month as they look to build on the momentum generated by their impressive 2025 Women’s Rugby World Cup campaign – where they made it to the quarterfinals.
South Africa, who are ranked 10 in the world, hosts the eighth-ranked Americans at Ellis Park on 4 July. The series then moves to Loftus Versfeld on 11 July, marking the first time the two nations will meet on African soil.
With 22 of the 30 players who featured at last year’s World Cup in England retained in the training squad, the Bok Women view the series as another important step in their development after successfully defending their Rugby Africa Women’s Cup title in Kenya.
“Looking at coming out of the World Cup so successfully, we need to keep building on that momentum,” said Libbie Janse van Rensburg, a key backline player for the squad who has scored 219 points in her career so far.
“Whether that is in winning games or in improving the way we play, the way we defend, all of those basic things, our goal for now is just to maintain momentum and keep growing the Springbok Women’s brand.”
Despite not facing a top-20-ranked nation since returning from the World Cup, the Bok Women are eager to measure themselves against a USA side that recently took on New Zealand, Canada and Australia in the Pacific Four Series.
/file/attachments/orphans/2232163308_682452.jpg "South Africa's Libbie Janse van Rensburg makes a pass during the Women’s 2025 Rugby World Cup match against Brazil in England. (Photo: Paul Harding / Getty Images)")
“I always say the only way we are going to get better is through playing opposition that’s much stronger than us,” said Janse van Rensburg. “It’s easy for us to have our tails in the air, feeling confident after beating teams that are ranked so much lower than us. But the real challenge comes in playing those top-level teams, finding our weaknesses, and being able to grow and improve on that.”
Playing to their strengths
The side’s set-piece strength, particularly in the scrum, could prove decisive as they seek only their second victory over the Americans in seven meetings, having won just once before, in Ontario in 2011.
This is according to assistant coach Laurian Johannes-Haupt.
/file/attachments/orphans/IMG_0954_274946.jpg "The Springbok Women train at St Johns College on 30 June in preparation for their Test against USA on 4 July at Ellis Park. (Photo: Annemieke Thomaidis)")
“We want to test ourselves against the best and because America’s ranked higher than us, that’s goal number one. Thereafter, we also want to see how dominant our set pieces are, as well as our defence,” she said.
“We actually worked really hard on our defensive systems, we like dominating in front, so our set-piece and our forwards are what’s going to drive that.”
Johannes-Haupt added that the team had also been working extensively on conditioning.
“When we started our campaign this year, we had a big focus on our conditioning, on our breakdown and defence system,” she said. “Our conditioning has really improved and we just want to continue in that trajectory going forward into our season.
“We can definitely spruce up our skill level, such as our catch passes for the game to flow better. But in saying that, it’s also important that we play our brand of rugby with intensity, and that’s what we’ve been working towards.”
USA are expected to also bring a physical edge, but they also have pace and agility out wide with an expansive attacking game among their strengths.
When asked whether South Africa would adapt their approach to counter this style of play, Janse van Rensburg echoed the sentiments of Johannes-Haupt, stressing the importance of sticking to the Bok style of play.
“I don’t think we’ll ever step away from the forward-dominant game. That’s such a strong part of our team. It’s part of our DNA,” she said. “No matter who we play, we are always going in knowing that our forwards are the most dominant. The rest of the backline, we just have to step up and do our jobs when it comes to the wide ball being played.”
/file/attachments/orphans/TL_24270711_792757.jpg "Laurian Johannes-Haupt, assistant and forwards coach for the Springbok Women. (Photo: Grant Pitcher / Gallo Images)")
The team announcement takes place today, 2 July, with all eyes on who will fill the role of missing playmaker Nadine Roos.
Roos sustained a knee injury that required surgery during the Sevens Rugby season earlier this year and may not even be strong enough to play Ireland in September. The current options are Unam Tose, Felicia Jacobs (10 caps) and Anacadia Minnaar (five caps), who are relatively inexperienced, barring Tose who has 29 caps to her name.
The women play USA on Saturday, 4 July at Ellis Park at 1.30pm. DM