Bok women into RWC mode

Johannesburg - The Springbok Women's team will go into their opening match in the IRB Women's Rugby World Cup against Australia with a mental toughness, flank Lamla Momoti said on Tuesday.

"Every player realises the importance of starting the tournament with a quality performance," Momoti said ahead of the match on Friday.

"The fact that we are facing Australia in our first match has forced the players to develop the required mental toughness from the outset, which is encouraging for us as a team."

The team has officially switched into World Cup mode ahead of the tournament in France, she said.

South Africa will face hosts France on August 5 and Wales on August 9 in their pool matches.

The experienced Momoti was impressed by the team's preparations so far.

"This is the third Women's Rugby World Cup I am participating in and it is fantastic to see how quickly the players have adapted to their new surroundings and switched into match mode," said Momoti.

The last time the two teams played South Africa were humbled after suffering a 62-0 defeat.

However Momoti believes that they are far better prepared for this match than four years ago.

"Our preparation this year has been on a different level in terms of professionalism compared to 2010 and that includes the training camps at home and our preparation in camp," said Momoti

"So I believe this time we have a chance of registering a victory. That said it will be tough because Australia are a quality team with good skills, but the fact that we are several levels up from where we were before has bolstered the confidence in the team."