Following their defeat to France in their opening Rugby World Cup 2021 match, the Springbok Women must dust themselves off for a make-or-break clash against minnows Fiji.
The Springbok Women's Rugby World Cup 2021 campaign started off with defeat as they were outfoxed 40-5 by a wily French side on Saturday, 8 October.
It was both nations' first game at the global showpiece in Auckland, New Zealand, as well as the tournament's curtain-raiser.
For French and neutral supporters, it was mostly pleasant viewing as Les Bleues displayed some innovative rugby at times. They carved the stubborn South Africans open in the early minutes, with French flyhalf Caroline Drouin being the chief tormentor of the Boks.
The Drouin-inspired plays saw the French race into a 19-0 lead in the first 20 minutes -- a sequence of events that foreshadowed a thorough thumping of the South Africans. But that would be the only joy Les Bleues would experience and coach Stanley Raubenheimer's troops contained and battered them in the ensuing 50 minutes of play.
The lower-ranked Boks not only halted the French maul but also managed to gain an edge during scrums. They were rewarded for their resilience when right wing Nomawethu...