Springbok Women target historic first win over Ireland in maiden WXV meeting

South Africa forward Catha Jacobs has distilled the Springbok Women’s ambition for their upcoming two-Test WXV Global Series series against Ireland into a single word: win. The fixture, scheduled across the next fortnight, will mark the first time the two nations have met in women’s rugby.

“We need to beat them irrespective of what that will do to improve our ranking,” Jacobs said. “The rankings are important, as we had a target at the start of the season for where we wanted to finish, but that wasn’t our only goal. We have already beaten the USA and Italy, who had a better ranking than us, and now we have the opportunity to get one over Ireland. To do that successfully, we need to win the small battles first on the day, and the rest will follow.”

South Africa arrive into the series in reasonable form, having beaten the USA Women’s Eagles, swept Fiji on tour, and defeated both Italy and Spain in WXV Global Series action this year. The team had set a goal at the start of the season to climb beyond tenth in the World Rugby rankings, and Jacobs believes the wins against higher-ranked opposition have already moved the needle.

Ireland, meanwhile, have had a mixed autumn. Scott Bemand’s side opened their WXV Global Series campaign with a 40-36 defeat to the USA before recovering with two wins over Japan. They travel to South Africa without star back-row Aoife Wafer, a significant absence.

Jacobs, 28, brings personal knowledge of several Ireland players from her time in Premiership Women’s Rugby with Saracens and Leicester Tigers before returning home after Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025. She also represented South Africa Women’s Sevens in HSBC SVNS competition over the past year, giving her a broad read on the international landscape.

“Those players are very skilful, and that carries over to their national team,” she said. “Ireland have an all-round game, so we will be tested in multiple areas for sure. They have a good set-piece, especially at lineout time, and their players have a good skill set across the team. They also have a very good kicking game and will no doubt use that to put us under pressure.”

The Springbok Women have navigated turbulence of their own in 2025, including the mid-season departure of head coach Swys de Bruin ahead of their clash with the Black Ferns at FNB Stadium in Soweto. South Africa lost heavily to New Zealand in that fixture and were beaten 50-19 by Wales in Cardiff in their WXV Global Series opener. The series against Ireland represents an opportunity to build momentum heading into the final stretch of the international calendar.