The Springbok Women wrapped up a defence-heavy training session at St. John's College in Johannesburg on Tuesday, with assistant coach Laurian Johannes-Haupt flagging their defensive structure as the platform they intend to build their Test on against the USA Eagles at Ellis Park on Saturday.
Johannes-Haupt said every facet of the defensive set-up was addressed: "Scrums, set piece defence, wide ruck defence – you name it, we focussed on it and it was a very productive session. So those boxes were ticked for us and with one session remaining on Thursday, we are about as ready as we can be."
The coach is equally confident in the set piece as a weapon, and the squad has had substantial footage to work through after the USA's recent Pacific Four commitments against New Zealand, Australia and Canada.
Saturday's fixture will be the first meeting between the sides on African soil. South Africa and the USA have met six times previously — the first in 2009, the most recent in 2023 — with South Africa's only victory coming in Ontario in 2011. The Eagles are currently ranked eighth in the world.
Johannes-Haupt drew a direct line between last year's Canadian Test — Canada were third in the world at the time — and the improved performances South Africa produced at the Rugby World Cup, arguing that competitive exposure to elite sides accelerates development in measurable ways. She views the USA match in the same light.
"We want to be able to play and compete against any team in the world come the next World Cup," she said. "We are well aware of the momentum we can create with two good performances over the next two weekends."
The squad of 30 remains fully available for selection, with the match-23 to be named on Thursday.