Swys de Bruin back on the horse, ready to spark excitement over Springbok Women

Springbok Women’s Eloise Webb in the Test against Spain at DHL Stadium in Cape Town on 19 September 2024. (Photo: Grant Pitcher / Gallo Images)

By Keanan Hemmonsbey

26 Sep 2024

The Springbok Women are on the rise, thanks in no small part to Swys de Bruin, who has come out of coaching retirement.

Swys de Bruin, the former Springbok consultant under Rassie Erasmus, and long-time Lions assistant and head coach, is finally in the coaching saddle again after five years.

He is currently a coaching consultant with the Springbok Women, a role he will fulfil until the conclusion of the Women’s Rugby World Cup in September next year. After that, he will remain with the South African Rugby Union (Saru) for another two years as a mentor to other young coaches.

de bruin bok women booi Captain Nolusindiso Booi of Springbok Women on the charge in the Test against Spain at DHL Stadium in Cape Town on 19 September 2024. The team won’t shy away from traditional strengths, according to coaching consultant Swys de Bruin. (Photo: Grant Pitcher / Gallo Images)

De Bruin spent five years away from the rugby field and the backroom of a side due to stress-related illnesses, initially while at the helm of the Lions.

Many thought his excellent tactical mind was lost to SA Rugby, considering he had found a new home as a pundit on TV screens, but a well-timed phone call by Dave Wessels, the recently appointed General Manager of High Performance at Saru, changed all of that.

“Funny enough, I was sitting with my wife the day before and we said, ‘maybe one more stint’,” De Bruin told Daily Maverick.

“I had five great years with SuperSport, as an analyst with Final Whistle and doing the Test matches, it was just absolutely fantastic.

“The next day, I got a call from Dave Wessels, asking if I’d be keen and I must say, my first reaction was excitement.

“I looked at my wife and said, ‘I can’t handle you, how am I going to handle 40 women’,” he joked.

“I spoke to Rian Oberholzer [Saru CEO] as well, [so] I’ve got their backing.

“My main job really is – not just to coach the women – but to coach coaches at all levels in the SA Rugby system so that we take the message from the Springboks down to all the teams.”

Always improving

de bruin springbok women charlie Sanelisiwe Charlie of Springbok Women on the charge in the Test against Spain at DHL Stadium in Cape Town on 19 September 2024. (Photo: Grant Pitcher / Gallo Images)

The Bok Women have been on an upward trajectory since De Bruin has taken over the side, which in every sense besides the title is a head coach role.

They played a curtain-raiser for the Springboks’ clash against the All Blacks in Cape Town a few weeks ago and thrashed the Barbarians 59-17. They’ve maintained that form with a dominant 36-19 win over Spain last week, again at DHL Stadium.

Those one-off matches served as warm-ups for the WXV 2 tournament that kicks off on 27 September with the Springbok Women facing Japan. Their two other tournament matches will be against Australia and Italy.

All three teams are ranked higher than the Springbok Women, who occupy 12th place on the World Rugby rankings. But the side’s main goal is their performance at next year’s World Cup where De Bruin is aiming to reach the quarterfinals.

That’s no easy equation considering the Springbok Women lost all their matches at the World Cup in 2022.

“It would be fantastic if we could make the top eight,” De Bruin said. “Sitting 12th now, that will be a massive achievement if we can make the quarters and top eight.

“We have to believe it. I truly believe that if we follow the process and we can create a hunger for them to achieve, we will achieve.”

Dynamic duo

de bruin springbok women bafana nhleko Alongside him, De Bruin has former Junior Springboks coach Bafana Nhleko who coached the Lions junior sides when De Bruin was at the Johannesburg union.(Photo: Grant Pitcher / Gallo Images)

Alongside him, De Bruin has former Junior Springboks coach Bafana Nhleko who coached the Lions junior sides when De Bruin was at the Johannesburg union.

The pair have an excellent working relationship that continues with the Springbok Women.

“When I joined the Lions back in 2013, Bafana was one of the young coaches there and he did wonderful things,” de Bruin said.

“The other thing is, we see the game the same. We want to score tries, we want to play.

“He’s the defence coach, but he doesn’t tell me to stop, we can’t attack from [a certain position in the field] because if there’s a turnover, it’s tough on the defence.

“He bought in, he knows what we want. Both of us would rather beat a team 45-43 than 10-9.”

While that is a philosophy both coaches trust in, it’s also a tactic they believe can get more people in the stands to support the women’s side.

“If we want to build this brand, we have to play some more [expansive] rugby,” he said. “We have to open it up to get the people excited.”

de bruin springbok women webb Springbok Women’s Eloise Webb in the Test against Spain at DHL Stadium in Cape Town on 19 September 2024. (Photo: Grant Pitcher / Gallo Images)

The team, though, won’t shy away from traditional strengths, according to De Bruin. Their physicality, especially in the scrum, was on display against Spain, who they milked for penalties at the set-piece seemingly at will.

“[Physicality] is still in our DNA,” De Bruin said. “If you look at our men’s team, if you scrum well and scrum teams into penalties, if you can then maul them into penalties, that’s a massive advantage.

“If you scrum well, you want to play a lot because if there’s a mistake from either side, you get to scrum again. That’s a big positive for me that we have such a good set play.

“Another thing in our DNA in our country, since 1995, is defence. Defence wins championships.

“I’m not saying we’re a championship side yet, but the fact that we can partake in the World Cup and we qualified, that’s already a step in the right direction.”

De Bruin was also quick to credit Stanley Raubenheimer and Louis Koen, who served as Springbok Women’s coaches before him, as laying the foundation for what he is trying to achieve with this team.

De Bruin, in his “final stint” in the hot seat, will see how high he can build on those solid foundations with an ever-improving team. DM

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Always improving

Dynamic duo