South Africa are second in the IRB Women’s Sevens Series standings after making it to the final of the Dubai 7s where they were beaten 41-0 by New Zealand on Saturday.
An improving Springbok team – perhaps the surprise package of the tournament, faced a dominant New Zealand team displaying a combination of raw power, pace and unparalleled fitness levels, who swept to an emphatic win.
South Africa can however take a lot of satisfaction from their overall performance at the historic event. They beat England and Brazil, and then got the better of the Netherlands (12-7) to reach the semi-finals, where they beat Spain 19-17.
SA Women’s team coach Denver Wannies was a happy man despite the loss against New Zealand. “Our goal was to reach the semi-finals, and we did very well to reach the last final.
“New Zealand was just too strong for our girls but we learnt a lot out there today, and now we need to keep the momentum,” continued Wannies.
New Zealand have set the pace at the first of four rounds in the inaugural IRB series, followed by South Africa, Spain and Australia with Russia, Canada and England next.
In less than two months the second round of the Women’s Sevens World Series will see the Springboks travel to Houston, Texas on 1-2 February 2013, winding down to the final .
Springboks Dubai 7s Results: SA 0-41 New Zealand (Final) SA 19-17 Spain (Semi-final) SA 12-7 Netherlands (Quarter-final) SA 0-5 Spain (Pool round) SA 20-5 England (Pool round) IRB Women’s Sevens World Series : Round 2: 1-2 February, 2013 in USA: Houston Round 3: 30-31 March 2013 in China: Guangzhou Round 4: 17-18 May 2013 in the Netherlands: Amsterdam
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