SA Rugby CEO Rian Oberholzer has set an audacious goal for the Women Springboks\u2019 Rugby World Cup 2029 tournament.<\/p>\n
Earlier this year, South Africa<\/a> reached the quarter-finals for the first time but bowed out at that stage when they were beaten by defending champions New Zealand.<\/p>\n Former Springboks assistant coach and ex-Lions boss Swys de Bruin coached the team to the landmark and has since been rewarded with a contract extension through to the next tournament.<\/p>\n Swys de Bruin re-signing<\/p>\n While Oberholzer<\/a> says that it was important to secure De Bruin\u2019s services long-term, the boost that the women\u2019s game will receive next year will have a greater impact.<\/p>\n \u201cSwys de Bruin<\/a> is staying on as the Women\u2019s coach until the next World Cup<\/a>, so that is a positive step for us,\u201d the CEO told the SABC.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are moving away from a cycle of coaches coaching for one World Cup cycle, and then we feel it\u2019s important for them to change.\u201d<\/p>\n SA Rugby plans to have six professional women\u2019s rugby teams by next year and asked if their plans are on track. Oberholzer replied: \u201cYes, we are indeed.<\/p>\n \u201cSo, we are in the final stages of finalising our professional women\u2019s league that will kick off soon.\u201d<\/p>\n The Bulls Daisies were the first South African women\u2019s team to go professional, with five more clubs set to follow suit, and the SA Rugby boss believes this move could elevate the Women Boks to the top of international rugby.<\/p>\n World Rugby have \u2018created their own monster\u2019 as prominent coach hits out at calls to depower scrums<\/a><\/p>\n Oberholzer believes the move will not only position South Africa to compete better at the next Rugby World Cup but perhaps even clinch a medal, which is the new target.<\/p>\n \u201cWe hope to have six teams that will perform, and we believe that is the first step of all giving our women a fair opportunity to be professional rugby players, but also to prepare them so that when the 2029 World Cup comes around, we\u2019re in a position to win a medal, and that is what we are striving to do,\u201d he continued.<\/p>\n \u201cSo we believe that a professional women\u2019s league will dramatically assist us to take our women to the next step, so that they can compete not only for play-offs but for the title.\u201d<\/p>\n