A decision on Swys de Bruin’s future as head coach of the Springbok Women has reportedly been made.
A decision on Swys de Bruin’s future as head coach of the Springbok Women has reportedly been made
De Bruin, who took charge of the team in August last year, guided the Bok Women to the quarter-finals of the recent World Cup – their best-ever showing.
His side claimed two pool-stage wins – including a first-ever victory over Italy – to break into the top 10 of the world rankings for the first time and advance to a historic quarter-final, where they held the Black Ferns to 10-10 at half time before going down 46-17.
Despite that success, SA Rugby CEO Rian Oberholzer had hinted that De Bruin’s position was not guaranteed, suggesting after the team’s return from England that “we have got a clean sheet of paper”.
But after weeks of discussions, SA Rugby GM of high performance Dave Wessels confirmed to news that an agreement has been reached in principle for De Bruin to remain in charge through to the next World Cup in Australia.
The 65-year-old’s extended tenure is expected to be finalised soon, with only the finer details of the deal still to be ironed out.
The four World Cup matches became the four most-watched Springbok Women’s games ever. In total, more than 1.27 million unique viewers engaged with the team’s matches in 2025, according to data from Nielsen Sports SA.
That figure reflected a 334% growth from 2024, while total consumption numbers were up a staggering 673%, a clear signal of rising interest and investment in the women’s game.
And a new record was set for a single match audience with nearly half a million viewers (484,265) tuning in live to watch the quarter-final clash against the Black Ferns, marking a 135% increase on last year’s top match audience for the Springbok Women.
This audience data is a reflection of the booming interest in women’s rugby as well as testimony to the improvement the Springboks have shown in the past year,” said Rian Oberholzer, CEO of SA Rugby.
“There is the potential for exponential growth in the sport among women and girls over the next few years as these numbers prove.”
The Springbok Women played 12 matches in 2025 – including two-match series against World Cup finalists Canada and a Black Ferns XV – while they also retained the Africa Cup title in Madagascar.
