That is the view of Babalwa Latsha, who will lead South Africa on Saturday, as they look to sharpen their arsenal for next month’s Rugby World Cup in England. The experienced prop said they will be keen for more improvements around the breakdown and set piece.

“The Rugby World Cup is just 30 days away and we are using this opportunity to fine tune our game, as we will do again next weekend,” she said.

“We worked hard on areas such as the breakdown in order to improve in that aspect of play and that will be a focus area for us tomorrow again.

“The two matches against Canada provided us with valuable learnings and the next two against this very capable Black Ferns XV will do so again.”

Latsha said although their set piece worked well against Canada, they are looking for more improvement on Saturday: “There is no doubt that the Black Ferns XV will test us, they are a very skilful team with a number of very experienced players in key positions, but to be honest, for us this match will be about ourselves and what we want to achieve.”

For Latsha, returning to Athlone Stadium is also a treat. In the last two seasons, the Bok Women played at the Cape Town venue in WXV 2.

“Yes, the stadium has now almost become a home base for us,” she said. “I think it is fair to say that we have managed to build up a support base out there and I hope and believe that the crowds will come out again this weekend to come and support us. We would love nothing more to feed off the energy from the crowd, so I really hope they come in numbers.”

Saturday’s clash will be the first between the Bok Women and the Black Ferns XV, who are on a historic first trip to South Africa. Tickets are available for only R20 from Quicket – CLICK HERE.

Match details: Springbok Women v Black Ferns XV
Date: Saturday, 26 July 2025
Venue: Athlone Stadium, Cape Town
Kick-off: 17h00
Referee: Zoe Naude (South Africa)
Assistant referees: Giana Viljoen, Angie Bezuidenhout (both SA)
TV: SuperSport Grandstand