Johannesburg – The Springbok Women’s Rugby Sevens squad started the Atlanta World Series on a disappointing note in the early hours of Sunday morning as they suffered defeats in all three pool matches against the USA, NZ and Russia.
The team opened up the tournament with a 36-5 defeat against hosts the USA as the home team dominated proceedings from the outset. Such was their dominance they built up a convincing 26-0 lead at the break and then added 10 points in the second half to the delight of their home fans.
In total the US scored six tries, with Victoria Folayan scoring a hat-trick thanks to her explosive speed, while SA managed only one try by Mathrin Simmers.
The Bok Women faced an even tougher task in their second pool match against log-leaders New Zealand, who wasted no time proving why they are the best team on the circuit as they secured an emphatic 52-0 victory.
New Zealand were in fine form on attack as they snuck through the gaps in the Bok Women’s Sevens defence throughout the match, which earned them an impressive eight tries.
In stark contrast all the Bok Women’s efforts on attack were countered by the strong New Zealand defence, which forced them to make costly handling errors. These mistakes left Renfred Dazel’s team scoreless.
The team showed more intent on defence in their final match of the day against Russia, but despite these efforts Russia crossed the tryline three times in the first half for a 19-0 lead.
They wasted no time adding to this score in the second half as they earned their fourth try 30 seconds into the half, and followed this up by another three to take their total in the match to seven for a 43-0 victory. This was mainly thanks to their innovation and patience on attack and their ability to power their way over the advantage line.
SA will face Spain in the Bowl Semifinal on Sunday. – Sapa