Springbok Women head coach Swys de Bruin says a drawn series against the USA Eagles Women reflects genuine progress, even after his side fell 26-19 to the Americans at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.
"If you asked me two months ago if I will accept a drawn series, I would have taken it," said De Bruin. "After today, where we did not play our best rugby, I am still pleased with the progress. We were one try away from drawing the match and the fightback we showed was very pleasing."
De Bruin pointed to the breakdown as the primary source of frustration, with the Bok Women repeatedly penalised in that area and struggling to build momentum as a result. "I will have a good look what went wrong there. Maybe our support players did not arrive in time or maybe they got lucky, but the bottom line was that it robbed us of momentum and we just could not get going. It is something we can fix."
He drew a pointed comparison to this time last year, when Canada beat South Africa at the same venue. "The progress is real and we can feel it," he said, adding that the refusal to accept defeat within the group is something he values. "The days of us accepting defeat are gone and I love that attitude."
Babalwa Latsha echoed that sentiment. "We certainly are on an upward curve since the Women's Rugby World Cup and we are starting to believe. Today's result was marginal and we showed over the last two weeks that we can compete with the top sides in the world."
The squad returns to their Stellenbosch base after a short rest before heading to Fiji for a two-Test tour in August.