Qawe: We play and prepare for days like this

ANTANANARIVO A packed Stade Maki, an intimidating crowd and a red-up home team await the Springbok Women in Antananarivo this afternoon, when they conclude their Rugby Africa Women’s Cup tournament against Madagascar.

For Springbok Women captain, Chumisa Qawe, the challenge looms large, but it is one that is highly anticipated by her and the team. “We are ready for this,” said Qawe.

“Yes, the home crowd is really strong in support of their team – and that is fantastic – and we are playing on their home turf, but we prepared for this moment. After all, these are the matches you want to play and train for, when there is something at stake, but the odds are stacked against you. That is the real challenge, and we want to embrace that.”

At stake is the big prize that the team came to Madagascar for and pushed them past Cameroon and Kenya in convincing fashion, the quali cation to the inaugural WXV 2 tournament in October and despite being on the verge of it – the Bok Women need one log point out of the game – Qawe is adamant that the work is not done.

“We are close, but not there yet and it will be silly of us to take the foot of the accelerator now,” she said.

“We managed to build up nice momentum over the last two matches and worked hard to

nish strong and that is what we intend to do on Sunday.”

The captain was full of praise for their opponents: “They have played well in the tournament and have a unique style, so we need to make sure they do not get into their stride or rhythm. We can do that by forcing our game on them and making sure we execute our gameplan well.”

Match information: Springbok Women v Madagascar

Date: Sunday, 28 May 2023

Venue: Stade Makis, Antananarivo, Madagascar

Kick-o : 14h00 (SA time)

Referee: Precious Pezani (Zimbabwe)