Swys de Bruin previously said that he has “no idea” about Brazil’s women’s rugby team, but now he will have a full understanding as the Springbok Women will face the South Americans in their Women’s Rugby World Cup opener next August.
The fixtures for the tournament were released yesterday, and the Boks will take on Brazil in August next year at Northampton’s Franklin’s Gardens ground.
Their second Pool D encounter will be against Italy at the York Community Stadium, which is likely to decide their play-off qualification fate, before they take on pool favourites France in Northampton.
In just over 300 days' time, the #BokWomen will start their #RWC2025 campaign against Brazil in Northampton - all the fixtures here: https://t.co/URcHhm4FqR 🤩#MakeItCount #ETTIG pic.twitter.com/jfo91bQ7Sy
“Brazil will be a fresh challenge, as we have not played them at all, while we have clearer and more recent pictures of Italy and France, so we know we will have to prepare well,” De Bruin said yesterday.
“It is also nice to be able to play two matches at Franklin’s Gardens, a proud English rugby venue, and we are looking forward to the York visit as well. All in all, with regards to the draw and schedule, it is really a satisfactory outcome for us and the challenge will be to use that to our advantage.
Following the pool draw last week, De Bruin spoke about having to do some real research on Brazil, who are ranked 42nd and beat Colombia 34-13 in Paraguay last June to qualify for the World Cup.
South Africa are at No 12 in the world, while France are fourth and Italy eighth.
But while the French are one of the powerhouses in the women’s game, captain Nolusindiso Booi’s Boks will fancy their chances of edging out Italy, having gone down 23-19 in the recent WXV 2 tournament in Cape Town.
The Bok Women will begin their World Cup preparation with a training camp in December.
Springbok Women Pool D Fixtures (SA times)
Sunday, August 24: v Brazil @ Franklin’s Gardens, Northampton
Sunday, August 31: v Italy @ York Community Stadium, York
Sunday, September 7: v France @ Franklin’s Gardens, Northampton
Women’s Rugby World Cup Draw
Pool A: England, Australia, USA, Samoa
Pool B: Canada, Scotland, Wales, Fiji
Pool C: New Zealand, Ireland, Japan, Spain
Pool D: France, Italy, South Africa, Brazil