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Johannes-Haupt: 'We want to be like the men, but the criticism was unfair'
Three years ago, we ran a story that received a ton of negative feedback. Published in the wake of South Africa’s 75-0 defeat to England in the Women’s Rugby World Cup in New Zealand, the piece took issue not with the result but with the way the Springboks conducted themselves after the final whistle.
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The players were celebrating. They were singing and dancing. This was mostly in honour of the most-capped member of the squad, Zenay Jordaan, who retired after the game.
But the jubilations seemed to extend beyond the recognition of a departing legend. It appeared the players, even after a shellacking, were content with merely sharing a ground with their opponents.
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“The exuberance felt out of place,” was one of the most contentious lines in the piece that asked how South African rugby fans might have reacted if the men’s national team had conducted themselves in a similar manner if they lost to England by the same score in a World Cup game.
“I didn’t read the article, but a few of the players did and none of us were too happy with it,” says Sizophila Solontsi, the back-row who started off the bench against the Red Roses. “I think the criticism was unfair and missed the point.”
The point, as Solontsi and others saw it, was that South Africa were, and still are, a long way behind England in terms of their development. They did not enter the previous World Cup as a consequence of the stagnation of the women’s game back home, as the entire pyramid teetered on the brink of collapse.
All of their players were effectively amateur at the time. They were up against a crop of professional athletes drawn from the most dominant domestic league on the planet. Just being there was considered a victory to many observers. And besides, as Solontsi argues, “dancing and singing is a big part of South African culture.”
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The criticism was meant in good faith. I should know. I wrote the article. And even though I was dragged in the comments section and branded a sexist on social media, I stand by the sentiment. Because despite the important caveats concerning the progress and potential of women’s rugby in South Africa, I still yearn for a day when female Springboks are on par with their male counterparts. When their success is measured by World Cup wins.
When their players are considered beacons of unification in a fractured land and their stories are placed on the same pedestal occupied by the likes of Siya Kolisi, Cheslin Kolbe, and Pieter-Steph du Toit.
“I didn’t mind the criticism, to be honest, and I want to state now, loudly and proudly, that at the World Cup later this year, we’re not going there to take part, we want to compete and make our country proud!”
Those are the fighting words of Laurian Johannes-Haupt, the assistant coach of the Springboks Women who represented the side at the 2010 World Cup. With the team beginning to take on a more professional approach, she swapped the classroom for the training pitch in January this year to do her bit for her nation.
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“We’ve come a long way in a short amount of time,” Johannes-Haupt says with infectious positivity. “I’m not saying we’re going to go to England and win. That would be silly and put too much pressure on the girls. I also don’t want to create this expectation from the public.
“But you’re right. When fans and journalists can fairly criticise our performances, that would be a sign that things have moved in the right direction. We want to be held to a high standard. We hold ourselves to a high standard.
“We want to be like the men, winning World Cups, making the country proud. We want a ‘Chasing the Sun’ RPTV documentary about us. We have amazing stories to tell, and the girls are special. But we know we’re not there yet.”
Much of Johannes-Haput’s optimism stems from the rapid advancements of the Bulls Daisies, the Pretoria-based club that is the women’s arm of the Blue Bulls. Since becoming the first – and still, only – fully professional women’s club rugby side in South Africa in May 2022, the Daisies have dominated their ecosystem like an apex predator, winning this season’s Premier Division Final against Western Province 46-31 to claim the three-peat.
In 2023, with a squad of athletes unencumbered with a second job, and aided by the advantages of adequate rest, extra hours in the gym and on the training pitch, and with a mind wholly dedicated to their sport, they won 14 out of 14 matches to sweep the Women’s Premier Division.
They lost a single match in 2024 but still claimed the title with a 36-17 win over Western Province in the final. Last weekend they once again breezed through an unbeaten season, winning by an average of 61 points per game, to claim a three-peat in a run that has seen them win 36 from 37 matches across three seasons.
“We expect to win every game we play,” says Solontsi, who carried for 44 metres and made 18 tackles in the final from blindside flank. “There’s this belief. It comes from being professional. It comes from looking around the dressing room and seeing all these massive players. It comes from knowing that you’re at the best club in the country, that if you drop your standard for even a second, someone else will come in and take your place.
“When we go to national camp, other players tell us, not that we’re lucky, but that we have something other clubs don’t have. That doesn’t make you slack off. It makes you want to work harder. The hope is that other clubs start to do the same because as much as we love winning, we also want competition. We know that would be better for the Springboks. So that’s the hope.”
Johannes-Haupt agrees: “It’s not that the players from other teams aren’t as good. We wouldn’t pick them if they weren’t. I’d have no problem having a Springboks team made up of the Daisies players if it meant that we’d have the best chance of winning. But what I can say is the next generation, the players on the fringe, those girls who aren’t contracted by SA Rugby, those girls aren’t as good.
“And it’s not their fault. I know what it’s like trying to juggle your rugby career with a career that pays the bills. What we need is a league that is fully professional, not just one team. But we’re realistic as well. It takes time. Which is why we’re so happy with Daisies. They’ve lifted the standard.”
That is evident in the Springboks’ performances, if not necessarily their results. At the inaugural WXV2 in 2023, which South Africa hosted, the team finished third, beating Samoa 33-7 but falling comfortably short against Six Nations outfits Scotland and Italy.
Last year South Africa played host again and held firm against Japan in the closing minutes to claim a 31-24 win. And though they went down to Australia and Italy, consigning them to fourth on the table, both those losses were within seven points.
“If we held onto the ball here, if it bounced differently there, then who knows,” muses Solontsi. “Australia and Italy made the quarter-finals of the last World Cup and we only lost by a try to both of them. People look at the results and say this and that. They can say that we’re not making improvements but if you actually watched the games it’s obvious that we’re moving forward.”
The extra conditioning and drilling taking place at the Daisies has seen improvements at set piece and around the point of contact. “We’re becoming team that can score from rolling mauls,” says Johannes-Haupt, who is working under Swys de Bruin, the former men’s Lions coach and an assistant to Rassie Erasmus, whose presence alone proves that the powers that be are taking the women’s game seriously.
“South African rugby is famous for the scrums and big hits. We’re encouraging the girls to want to make that big hit for their country. Our people love winning. We’ll do whatever we can to win.”
South Africa share a World Cup group with France and Italy, as well as Brazil who are their first opponents in Northampton on 24th August. Having only won once from 12 World Cup games, a victory over Brazil would be well received. But, according to Johannes-Haupt, that would simply be the bare minimum.
“Let me say now that we want to qualify for the quarter-finals,” she says, her tone shifting from jolly to serious. “That’s the mission. That’s the message to the players. And let that be the message to the fans.
“I can say now that we are going to England to go where no South African team has gone before. And if we get there, then who knows where we could go next.”
Great article. Will be watching these incredible athletes with interest. Absolutely demonstrates the difference authentic resourcing makes.