South Africa suffered a close 23-19 defeat to the Azzure at Athlone Stadium in Cape Town on Saturday, a match that saw them finish on eight league points, the same as Italy, but just behind the Europeans on points’ difference. Australia claimed the WXV 2 title by beating Scotland, who finished second on nine points, in the final game on Saturday.

“We really showed that we can play with these teams and even beat them and that is very encouraging as we move towards next year’s Rugby World Cup,” said De Bruin, the Bok Women's performance coach.

“We could have easily won today and against the Aussies, but in reality we just did not use enough of the multiple chances we created. As frustrating as it is, so encouraging it is as we are miles away from being the best version of ourselves, but yet we took those teams to the last play of the game.

“We can certainly improve in certain areas and fine-tune other aspects of our play. There are very strong principles in this team that are in place already, but we are getting bogged down by others that are not good.

“We will have to be much better in those and the next couple of months and into next year the focus will be about that so that will be a more complete team when we are playing international rugby again in April.”

De Bruin said the first six weeks of his tenure was satisfying as he could witness first hand the fighting spirit in the group: “I am confident that this group can go on and make the country proud next year, providing that we work really hard in the next 11 months before we are off to England.”

Springbok Women captain Nolusindiso Booi said they feel frustrated after letting another win slip through their fingers.

“Yes, we are proud of the effort until the very last play and things could have gone our way, but defeat does not sit well with us,” said Booi.

“The massive support we are now receiving is also a huge boost, but we need to reward the crowds with a winning performance as well. The disappointment we are feeling is also for them, as we really wanted them to witness us winning today.

“We are growing as a team though and we are well aware that it is not always about the result, but also about the process. We did good things in this match, but credit to Italy who showed calm heads when it mattered.

“The two yellow cards we conceded did not help our cause either. Overall, the five-match campaign can be deemed a success and I want to thank the coaches and management for the way they prepared us for this WXV 2.”

The players will return to their respective unions now, with a camp in December their next national commitment.