The Springbok Women Sevens team will be looking to regroup on Sunday at the Rugby World Cup Sevens in Moscow, after failing to progress to the Cup quarterfinals.
Defeats to Australia (36-0) and Ireland (12-5) overshadowed the win against China (19-7), with the defeat to the Irish being the real blow to the side who made the semi-finals of the 2009 World Cup.
The SA Women will now play Fiji in the Bowl quarter-final at 10h06 (South African time).
“It is disappointing that we will be contesting the second tier of the competition. If our second try against Ireland was awarded instead of being disallowed, we could have been in the Cup section. That is how small the margins are at this level,” Springbok Women Sevens coach Denver Wannies said.
He lamented the injury of experienced playmaker, Lorinda Brown, in the early match of the day against Ireland.
Brown had a hand in the opening try to Yolanda Meiring, but was forced off the field with a broken leg shortly afterwards.
“Her injury robbed us of composure in defence, and attack and forced us to go to the more inexperienced players on the bench. But we still needed to execute much better in all our matches, especially at the breakdowns. I am disappointed in the way we played in that phase,” Wannies said.
After Meiring scored against the Irish, the European side dotted down shortly before and after the break, with the latter proving to be the clincher. A try by Phumeza Gadu was disallowed and with that, the result went the wrong way.
Against China, Gadu and Meiring crossed the line after good work by team mates on their inside, and there was real hope that they could beat Australia to progress into the Cup quarters.
But the defending champions exploited some weak defence by the South Africans and in the end, scored a number of well-worked tries.
“We still have a lot to play for and I hope the players can regroup and come back strongly in the morning. We are all very proud to be here at this World Cup, so would like to prove that we can deliver the goods on Sunday,” Wannies said.
IRB Women’s World Cup Sevens Bowl Quarter-Finals (SA times): 09:00: Netherlands – Japan 09:22: Brazil – China 09:44: France – Tunisia 10:06: South Africa – Fiji IRB Women’s World Cup Sevens Cup Quarter-Finals (SA times): 10:28: New Zealand – England 10:50: USA – Ireland 11:12: Russia – Canada 11:34: Australia – Spain IRB Women’s World Cup Sevens Pool B Results, in Moscow on Satruday, 29 June, 2013: Australia 36-0 China South Africa 5-12 Ireland Australia 22-5 Ireland South Africa 19-7 China China 10-28 Ireland Australia 29-0 South Africa The Springbok Women’s Sevens Squad: 1. Mandisa Williams 2. Bella Makwezela 3. Nomaphelo Mayongo 4. Zenay Jordaan 5. Yolanda Meiring 6. Lorinda Brown 7. Phumeza Gadu 8. Thamie Faleni 9. Fundiswa Plaatjie 10. Mathrin Simmers 11. Natasha Hofmeester 12. Veroeshka Grain
(With editing by gsport)
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