Latsha, Roos (RSA) speak to the media

South Africa prop Babalwa Latsha (pictured) and full-back Nadine Roos look ahead to their final match in Pool D, against France at Franklin's Gardens on Sunday, 6 September.

Babalwa Latsha

On the win over Italy at the weekend, which guaranteed a quarter-final place:
"It was quite a whirlwind of a day, emotionally, mentally, physically, as well as the energy of the whole stadium, seeing South Africans, even Italians at some stages, cheering for us. It was nothing short of a phenomenal day and, of course, the best part was to come away with a positive result there. It was quite evident on the faces of the girls what it truly meant to us and what significance it has also on what our future may potentially look like in this competition and beyond."

On building women’s rugby in South Africa and how the win against Italy helped that:
"It feels like a watershed moment. We've been building up to it for the past three, four years, many sacrifices have been made and many tears have been cried for South African women's rugby.

"It's almost a moment that is like a lighthouse, if I may allude to that, where it illuminates a light so bright that it shines across the whole horizon. It's a brand-new path that has been created. New records have been set by the competition and by us. New pathways have been established, and also a validation of dreams for many of us in our group, for some even a revival of dreams that had perhaps been lying dormant. And hopefully a revival of dreams for others back home as well, and what a way to conclude Women's Month in South Africa, than by putting up such a performance and coming away with that result."

On facing France this weekend:
"The beautiful thing about rugby or any sport is that the highs are really high. It's important to soak all of that in enough, but also balance that with knowing when to decompress, come back to reality and understand that it's been a tough couple of weeks, and the priority is to get our bodies and minds sharp and ready for the next one. We're looking after our bodies and our minds as well."

On the stat of making 612 metres during the Italy match:
"Things like stats and metrics are actually quite important because they quantify the work that has been done. How else can we measure? We're constantly striving for world-class standards, and we need to know what that looks and feels like. Italy challenged us statistically. In fact, on all fronts, credit must go to them because what a team to play against.

"Data is important because it feeds into how we research our sport and how numbers play a role in the sport, how we go about developing and almost redeveloping what performance standards look like from grassroots level all the way up to international level."

Nadine Roos

On the trust within the team and relying on one another:
"You play a team sports so there's going to be a lot a lot of up and downs. We've gone through those hardships and that builds trust, cohesion, and it brings that quality in a side that's behind the scenes that no one ever sees. When that all comes together, you see the rugby that this team can produce. That trust is really important because when it comes to these pressurised moments, I need to know that the next person has my back and I have their back."

On facing France:
"It's really exciting. The last time we played France was in 2021 and that game didn't go really well for us. It's exciting to come up against a team like France, they're a quality side with quality players."

On the emotions of last weekend:
"Going to the World Cup, our ultimate goal was beating Italy. Reflecting after the game, half of it is a blur because there were so many moments that went for us, but also against us. I can still recall we are the scrum, two minutes left on the clock and I can still remember how I saw Libby J[anse van Rensburg] say 'it doesn't matter what we do, just keep the ball'. Then they [Italy] ended up getting a penalty from that scrum - they had possession, but you could see they were under pressure because they knew they had to score. Then somehow we got the ball back again, then we lost the ball again from a breakdown turnover. They got the penalty kick for touch, they didn’t kick out. We end up getting the goal-line drop out, That's the beauty of the sport, the bounce of the ball, and we were lucky it went our way on the day. I just remember looking at the ref and when I saw the arm go out, it was just a sense of relief.

"With this team the sky is the limit, and this group can produce so much more than what we've set ourselves to reach at this World Cup."