The realities of being the new kid on the block in HSBC SVNS cannot be clearer for the Springbok Women’s Sevens squad considering the number of combined tournament caps each of the 12 teams in the series.
The South Africans have 40 combined world series caps, compared to the next team, Japan, on 104, while Australia, the most experienced squad at Cape Town Stadium this weekend, have 260.
The team also have not yet registered a win against Pool C opponents, France and Canada, but have managed to beat USA once in seven outings.
Despite these telling statistics, Springbok Women’s Sevens captain Mathrin Simmers is adamant that they will embrace those challenges as opportunities.
“What Dubai taught us last weekend is that we can play amongst these other teams and as we showed, we can beat them,” said Simmers.
“That was a massive boost to our system and confidence, and we are actually very pleased to get another opportunity to do it all over again, so soon.
“The back-to-back aspect of the two tournaments is something we have encountered before, so we have an idea of what to expect in Cape Town this weekend.
“We are of course also banking on a good crowd in with most of them supporting ourselves and the Blitzboks and we want to make they don’t leave disappointed.
“We have trained well this week and although we lost two senior players in Zintle (Mpupha) and Libbie (Janse van Rensburg), we still have some good depth and experience amongst the group. We have not faced any of our pool opponents so far this year, so we did a lot of analysis on them, and I believe we will be ready for what comes our way.”
Simmers is the most capped Springbok Women’s Sevens player of all time and by now, she is used to see debutants making their entrance and mark.
This weekend will be no different with Byrhandrè Dolf coming into the squad, but Simmers said she will embrace the moment.
“She is a very calm player by nature and has played in nine test matches for the Springbok Women this year, so she is used to big matches, big stadiums and big crowds,” said Simmers.
“I think the clarity in the squad on what we want to achieve on the circuit this year has given us a calm confidence. We must go out and repeat the encouraging performances from last week and I think we will do just that.”
Head-to-Head:
France: Played 5, SA won 0; Average score: 6-25
Canada: Played 7, SA won 0; Average score: 5-33
USA: Played 7, SA won 1; Average score 11-25
Springbok Women’s Sevens fixtures (all matches on SuperSport)
9.44am: France
12.06pm: Canada
4.44: USA
The Springbok Women's Sevens squad for Cape Town
1. Rights Mkhari; 2. Asisipho Plaatjies; 3. Ayanda Malinga; 5. Marlize de Bruin; 9. Nadine Roos; 10. Mathrin Simmers (captain); 12. Liske Lategan; 13. Kemiketso Baloyi; 14. Simamkele Namba; 16. Maria Tshiremba; 18. Shiniqwa Lamprecht; 20. Kyla De Vries; 21. Byrhandre Dolf
IOL Sport