Exclusive: Swys de Bruin Full of Praise for the Springbok Women and Siya Kolisi

Since the appointment of former Springbok consultant Swys de Bruin as the Performance Coach for the Springbok Women late August this year. It has seen the side raise their performances with notable victories against the Barbarians and Japan.

"There has been plenty of growth, for me the biggest growth is the individuals that improved their position specific skill set. We constantly challenge the players. Coach Franzel [September] has been working with hookers, Bafana [Nhleko] with the individual work on defence and Laurian [Johannes-Haupt] with the scrums,” de Bruin told SportsBoom.com.

“What is important for me is the individual, just look at any Barbarian team and pick all the great individuals and let them play, you will still see quality if you understand what I'm saying."

Impact of Springbok Captain Siya Kolisi on Women's Rugby

Springbok Captain Siya Kolisi has been a big advocate on the development of women's rugby globally. Currently the Springboks are on a break before the end of year tour. Siya has since been seen giving a helping hand to the Springbok Women's training sessions at Hamilton's Rugby Club in Cape Town.

"Siya is so special, a man of God. He is an unreal guy and I have so much respect for him. If I think of my days with the Springboks with Siya, it was the best memories. He comes here and does not charge us a cent, he spends hours and hours with the ladies. That's the kind of guy he is, trying to help them improve and give them ideas. When he is around, it’s like an injection of adrenaline for everyone."

Transition as a coach from the Springboks to Springbok Women

"[laughs] You know I learn a lot being in this environment with the women. I mean I taught Handre Pollard, Willie le Roux and those guys, and with these ladies everything you tell them and show them, they soak it in. They want to learn more and their learning spirit is unreal. It's a very fulfilling job to coach women's rugby in the sense that they just want to learn."

"It just shows if they are willing to learn, they will go places. That is why the growth is there because they are coachable."

Potential of Springbok Women side leading to the World Cup

The performance of the side has been on an upward trajectory and with the Womens Rugby World Cup just approaching, it begs the question if the side can compete against the likes of England, New Zealand, Canada or France.

"Look if my dreams can come true, we can do that. But I got to be realistic, we are 11th in the world [World Rugby rankings]. If we can somehow make the top 8, the quarters in the World Cup anything can happen. I don't want to set the goals too far at this stage, we want to dream big but we have to do things step by step."