Springbok Women’s coach Swys de Bruin steps down before Black Ferns Test

Swys de Bruin will not be on the touchline when the Springbok Women face the Black Ferns in a historic Test at FNB Stadium on Saturday, September 5. South African Rugby confirmed on September 3 that he had resigned as head coach.

Assistant coaches Laurian Johannes-Haupt and Franzel September will take charge as co-head coaches. De Bruin did not travel with the team this week and missed Tuesday’s training session. He was also absent during tours of Kenya and Fiji, when Johannes-Haupt and September led the side.

The sudden departure has created an unwelcome distraction before one of South Africa’s toughest matches of the year. Still, the atmosphere in camp is understood to remain positive, with the players focused on the challenge. A report in Rapport said the dispute involved win bonuses connected to the Kenya and Fiji tours. De Bruin, who did not attend those tours, reportedly maintained that he qualified for the bonuses. Saru declined to comment further.

The match will be New Zealand’s first Test in South Africa and will serve as the curtain-raiser for the Springboks and All Blacks’ third meeting in the Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series. It also offers South Africa an important measure of the progress made since the 2025 Rugby World Cup, where the team reached the knockout stages for the first time.

South Africa lost 46-17 to New Zealand in the quarterfinals, but its inventive play unsettled the Black Ferns. New Zealand co-captain Ruahei Demant said South Africa’s 15-player lineouts and scrum-launched mauls had been completely unexpected. Many within the Springbok Women setup credit that attacking dynamism to De Bruin.

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When we came up against a team like South Africa [in the 2025 World Cup], the thing that stood out to me was everything that they threw at us in that game was completely unexpected.