Swys de Bruin hails Springbok Women's 'perfect' first half after USA victory

The hosts raced into a 29-0 half-time lead with a commanding opening 40 minutes, but De Bruin admitted their performance dropped after the break as the visitors scored three tries to reduce the deficit.

"We played a brilliant first half - the best half of rugby I experienced with this team since I joined them," said De Bruin.

"That was perfect rugby, so I cannot be too hard on them because we allowed USA back into the game in the second half. Remember, the Eagles are a very good team in their own right.

"The fact that we did not play so well in the second half can be contributed to a number of factors, one of those could be that my message at halftime were not as well understood as the one before the game. But that was a good thing that we were not that great, as we now have clear work-ons for next weekend’s match."

For De Bruin the physicality from his pack in the first half was the big difference between the two sides, but the USA managed to take the play away from the South African forwards: "I am a very proud coach today. We showed up and we played very well and this was a very good win."

Springbok Women captain Babalwa Latsha praised the players for their grit and determination.

"We wanted to lay down a marker that we are a serious team," she said. "We wanted to show people that those foundations laid at the Women’s Rugby World Cup are still in place and solid enough to build on.

"This was a good statement. Yes, we fell away a bit in the second half, but as the coach said, we now have a clear idea on things we can improve in the coming week. Next weekend’s game will show our ability to adapt and grow."

Latsha said the experience gained from a match like this will help the squad in their growth: "We saw that we can execute and be successful. The coaches laid out a great plan for us. This is our biggest win over them in six test matches and we nearly overhauled them on the world rankings as well. We can’t wait for next weekend."

The squad will remain at their training base in Sandton for the week and will travel to Pretoria on Saturday for the second Test against the USA, to be played at Loftus Versfeld.