Springbok Women’s coach Stanley Raubenheimer says his team made mistakes at crucial times during their 17-5 loss against Spain in Villajoyosa on Saturday.

Spain outscored South Africa two tries to one at Campo de Rugby, while they slotted over both conversions and a penalty goal.

‘I am very disappointed in the way we played,’ said Raubenheimer. ‘We didn’t execute that which we set out to do throughout the week, and at times it looked as though we were scared to play. The most disappointing aspect for me was our inability to convert our chances into points at crucial times.

‘We will not use the injuries in the squad this week as an excuse. We knew what we had to do on the field and we had the ability to do it, but we were just not good enough on the day.

‘The fact that the players fought until the final whistle is one of the positives we will take from the match, while one of the main areas we need to address is to be more effective in our execution on attack.

‘It is important for us not to be too critical, especially since this was our second Test match in years. But that said, we need to learn from matches such as these, as we cannot create a number of opportunities to score, and not use them. We will take the defeat on the chin, look forward and move on.’

The Springbok Women will meet Italy in their final tour match in Prato on Saturday.

Spain– Tries: Alba Vinuesa, Mayka Brust. Conversions: Patricia Garcia (2). Penalty: Patricia Garcia.
Springbok Women – Try: Vuyolwethu Maqholo.

Photo: Marca.com