Doubling up on Rugby's Greatest Rivalry

After an incredible tour of Fiji, the Springbok Women are preparing for yet another historic Test this weekend, as they get ready to play the Black Ferns for the first time on South African soil. The teams have only met on two previous occasions, both of which took place on neutral ground at Rugby World Cups. In 2010, the Black Ferns cantered to a 55-3 win, but in 2025, while the final score of 46-17 may have suggested otherwise, the South African women were far fiercer contenders. Indeed, the Springbok Women scored the first try in what was their first ever quarter final appearance, and the teams went into the break with the scores level.

Now, they face each other at FNB Stadium in Soweto on Saturday, as an extension of the Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series currently underway between the men’s teams of the same nations. And while the announcement of the departure of the Springbok Women’s head coach, Swys de Bruin, just days before the game has the potential to unsettle the squad, it is clear that this is a team that is not going to let anything disrupt their preparations for this momentous clash. Fortunately, the more than capable Laurian Johannes-Haupt and Franzel September, who shepherded the team to their recent series win in Fiji, will act as co-head coaches, offering important continuity. They’re also no strangers to the threat posed by the Black Ferns – not only were both involved in the Springbok Women’s coaching set up at last year’s Rugby World Cup, but Laurian was also part of the team that faced the Black Ferns in 2010.

When I had the opportunity to chat to Laurian at a training session earlier this week, she was excited at the prospect of building on the team’s performance in that quarter final last year. Physical dominance and an excellent set piece were crucial to the Springbok Women’s strong showing in the early stages of that clash. This is something the team is looking to maintain, while now also being able to introduce increased flair in the backline, and a more holistic approach to their game. And while the team from New Zealand may be ranked second in the world, versus the Bok Women’s tenth, the Black Ferns coach, Whitney Hansen, is not underestimating the challenge they pose. Reflecting on the 2025 quarter final, she highlighted the danger of the Bok Women with ball in hand and the need to look for ways to shut down their immense physicality, joking that while many South Africans would be hoping for a repeat of that quarter final first half, she is looking to avoid it. And who can blame her. Of course, the Springbok Women are equally respectful of the challenge the Black Ferns pose – there’s no doubt that the six-time World Cup winners are a force to be reckoned with, and the Bok Women will be hoping to disrupt the flow of their impressive kicking game. But when I asked captain Babalwa Latsha whether they planned to use their learnings from their last game against the Black Ferns to target any particular areas of their game, she just smiled and said a physical game brings the team joy. Instead of targeting any perceived weaknesses, they’ll be sticking to their own strengths, leaning into what makes the team unique, and quintessentially South African. It sounds like we’re in for one hell of a match!

Check out the latest episode of the podcast!

While it’s bound to be a bruising encounter, it also just seems like there’s massive respect between the teams, and a really positive, happy vibe in both camps. The Springbok Women have even highlighted that love is the theme of their preparations – everything they’re doing is being guided by love for the team, for the game, and for South Africa. I hope South Africa returns that love, and shows up in numbers for the match on Saturday. Naturally, it makes sense for the game to be played as a double header in this instance, given that it’s part of the Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series, and the Springbok Women will be hoping that many of the more than 80,000 fans who have bought tickets will arrive early enough (and actually go into the stadium rather than just hanging out in the beer gardens) to catch their kick off at 13:30.

There is something to be said for the approach of having the Springbok Women’s games on the same day as big Springbok fixtures, even outside of this particular game. But sometimes I wonder if the double header is a double-edged sword. It provides the opportunity for a potential audience of tens of thousands who may not have previously been exposed to the women’s game to witness the team in action, which is an important consideration when we’re trying to grow women’s rugby. Of course, it requires that people do actually make use of that opportunity. And this is where it gets tricky. Because when you buy your tickets to the Springboks game, it doesn't mention the fact that it’s a double header anywhere – not on the ticket, and not on the ticket sales platform. That means there’s very likely a huge contingent of fans who may have no idea that they could catch an extra game for the not insubstantial sum of money they just paid for a ticket. While it obviously has been spoken about on social media, particularly this week, not everyone is chronically online (shocking, I know). What’s more, if people hear that the Springbok Women are playing, and look to buy tickets for the game, they don’t know where to find them if it’s not clear that it’s one ticket for both games. There’s also been a huge push to get people to use transport options like park and ride to get to games safely, but for previous double header fixtures, those buses haven’t left the malls early enough to enable people to get to the stadium in time for the start of the earlier game. Naturally, there are also people who don’t want to get to the stadium that early, or who want to experience some of the entertainment for a bit before finding their seats. Fair enough. Although, it’s worth mentioning that there’s typically still at least a 90-minute break between the games to get a few beers in. Nevertheless, at the very least, if we’re going to offer these games as double headers, we need to make sure people know it’s happening, and that transport providers are on board. The good news on that front is that the team at Park and Ride SA have confirmed that they will have buses leaving at 12:00 to enable fans to get to the stadium in time for the game against the Black Ferns on Saturday, so if that’s your transport mode of choice, get to your pickup point early!

If double headers are a tricky proposition, what’s the alternative? The Springbok Women have, of course, played stand alone games in the past too, and will do so again later this year. These games are usually played at smaller local stadiums like Athlone, and tickets are extremely cost effective, often ranging from around R20-R50. Tickets for this year’s games against Ireland, taking place in October, have not gone on sale yet, but one imagines the model will be similar, and at the very least, a fraction of the price we’re paying for the men’s game. The appeal of this is that it makes the game more accessible, not only from a cost perspective, but because it gets it into the community and is more attractive to families with younger kids. These are also crucial elements of growing the women’s game. On the other hand, there isn’t the draw card of a big game like the Springboks v the All Blacks to attract fans in their thousands. We don’t want the women’s game to be dependent on the men’s, but there’s no denying the draw of a big game in South Africa – why not capitalise on it?

Ultimately, both options are viable, and both have their pros and cons, depending on the circumstances. Positioning the games as double headers definitely has huge appeal and potential for success, and for this particular game, it’s a crucial piece of the Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry set up. We just need to get some of the finer details right, so that people actually know it’s happening, and are encouraged to get to the first game of the day. There are already promising signs – I have seen the number of fans in the stadium for the women’s game on these double header days increase exponentially over the last few years. All I’m saying is that we can likely do better. I mean, if one social media post from Rassie could get 60000 people to be quiet during the haka, maybe he could do the same to get people to head to FNB Stadium early on Saturday. Wield that power for good…

At the end of the day, we’re not exactly known for our minimalist approach to anything in South Africa. So, while we won’t be getting a double flyover this weekend, we will be getting two incredible matches for the price of one. Only a fool would turn their nose up at the opportunity to watch both. We’ll see you in the stadium!