We've arrived in Exeter fresh and ready for the challenge of taking on New Zealand this weekend. I've enjoyed every bit of the tournament so far, and the support from South Africans who have come over - as well as those who live here - has been incredible.
And it's not just our fans. The crowds at the tournament are just so into sport and women’s sport at the moment. It doesn’t matter whether a team wins or loses, you feel the love irrespective of the scoreline.
We arrived in the country a few weeks ago on the back of the best preparation we've ever had for a Rugby World Cup, and I think it's shown in the results. We didn’t underestimate Brazil going into the first round, we knew that it being a World Cup every team really lifts their performances, so it was such a good confidence booster for us to come into that one and win convincingly and set a good pace for the rest of the tournament.
The atmosphere for the Italy game in round two was out of this world and it was a day that will live in my memory forever. We knew if we won we would make the quarter-finals for the first time in history, but it's one thing knowing it and another thing to execute it. Italy are a phenomenal team but we stuck to our gameplan and managed to get over the line.
The post-match scenes speak for themselves. Our number one goal coming into this tournament was to make the quarter-finals because we knew how much of an impact that would have on women’s rugby back home, and how much things would change for us.
During our celebrations the cameras happened to catch a long hug between Nolusindiso Booi and me. It’s so poetic that the cameras happened to capture that moment but in truth it wasn't just us; all of the players were feeling those same emotions and exchanging those same words. As a team we've worked so hard for so long and we’ve always come just short. Every time we get somewhere, there’s been a little hurdle that we've stumbled on. For us to finally cross that barrier and reach that goal we’ve set for ourselves... it’s difficult to fully explain it to people who weren’t part of the journey for so long. All the battles we’ve fought as individuals and as a team, just having that moment of relief at the end of the game is indescribable.
It’s there in the back of the mind that we want more of those celebrations for Nolusindiso as this is her last World Cup. What she’s done for women’s rugby in South Africa is incredible - she's shown what heart can do to inspire a team. We’ve already made this the best World Cup for her, but sending her off on an ever higher note would be amazing. Yes, our goal coming into this Rugby World Cup was to make it to the quarter-finals, but now that we've done that of course our goal has changed.
We know it won't be easy against the Black Ferns but it's so exciting to play against them as it's not an opportunity we often get. There's also the fact that the men are playing against New Zealand on Saturday as well, so it has the feel of a double header for us.
I'd love one day for us to play a double header in the same stadium. We’ve played some games before the men in the past, but having a top-class team like the Black Ferns coming over to play us on our home ground would be amazing and would also encourage people to come out and support us. The support at stadiums back home isn’t where we want it to be yet. That’s why playing here has been so overwhelming for us, because we’re not used to playing in front of such crowds. Hopefully after this Rugby World Cup people will be motivated to get out and support our games back home.
We know we have to do our bit by performing as well, and for us the plan on Saturday is to focus on ourselves and just go out there and execute what we want to do. The important thing is not to try and get ahead of ourselves. It’s going to be a big moment, but just staying composed and staying present in that moment and taking it all in will be key. Whatever the score is going to be it’s still an amazing opportunity to play in front of such a big crowd against the Black Ferns.
Rome wasn’t built in a day, so we can’t just expect to run out there and be competing with sides like England straight away, but we’ve made such massive strides already and really do believe that this could be the start of something special in women's rugby in South Africa.
We will go into the game knowing that in the playoffs anything can happen, and with the knowledge that a little bit of heart goes a long way.
See you there!
Libbie
