Bok Women set to lean on set-piece power in Spain Test, says scrum coach

That was the word from Bok Women scrum coach Laurian Johannes-Haupt following another good training session at the team's base at the Bonalba Golf Resort in Alicante on Tuesday where a lot of focus went into scrumming and mauling options for the team.

"We don't want to move away from what we are good at; we just want to perfect what we are good at," said Johannes-Haupt.

The 12-ranked Bok Women will be facing the 13th-ranked Spanish women's team on Saturday, but while this is the first Test of the year for the South Africans, Spain are entering the contest more battle-hardened.

"They have been together for five weeks now and had four wins so far, so their improvement is real," she added.

"They will come in well prepared, while we are only starting our season. That said, we have had several camps back home where we worked on a few aspects and variety in our game, and we would like to implement that."

The two sides met twice last year, once in Valladolid and once in Cape Town, with the Springbok Women winning on both occasions. They also enjoyed a 94% success rate in scrums on their own feed compared to Spain's 74%. The South Africans also won 25 of 28 lineouts (89%), while Spain won nine from 14 (64%).

The Bok Women scored eight tries in those two matches - three of which were from mauls and two from scrums - while Spain scored five, with only one from a lineout and one from a scrum.

"We are certainly a set piece team, and we want to remain prominent and dominant in that area, but we also want to spice it up and add more to our play than just scrums and mauls, as successful as it is for us," she said.

"This match will be about a solid foundation, and we will target the set piece, but more so because we want to give the backs ball to run with. If we provide the platforms for them to launch from, they will have ample opportunity to finish.

"I feel our defence has been reliable as well and we are working to add some attacking flair to our effort."

The Springbok Women team to face Spain on Saturday will be named on Wednesday.

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