CAPE TOWN – The Springbok Men's Sevens side continued where they left off in Dubai last weekend when they defeated Japan 0-40 in their opening pool-match at the Cape Town Stadium on Friday.
In a first for the South African leg of the World Rugby Sevens Series, the tournament not only extended to a three-day event, but also included the Women's Series, run concurrently with that of the Men's.
Unfortunately for the Springbok Women, they succumbed to strong Series defending champions New Zealand (40-0), the South Africans featuring in front of their home crowd for the first time ever on the Sevens World Series.
Kurt-Lee Arendse and Rosco Specman of South Africa tackle Shotaro Tsouka of Japan on Day 1 of the 2019 Sevens Rugby tournament at the Cape Town Stadium. Photo:Phando Jikelo / African News Agency (ANA)
Both teams will play their remaining two Pool-matches on Saturday, with the knockout rounds set for Sunday.
South Africa (Women) fixtures for Saturday:
SA v Russia, kick-off 10.13 am
SA v Fiji, kick-off 4.13 pm
South Africa (Men) fixtures for Saturday:
SA v Fiji, kick-off 1.51 pm
SA v USA, kick-off 8.03 pm
JC Pretorius of South Africa tackled by Japanese player on Day 1 of the Cape Town sevens on Friday. Photo: Phando Jikelo / African News Agency (ANA)
The results from day one of the Cape Town Sevens are:
Women (match, time, fixture)
Match 1: 14:00 – Australia 32 – 0 England
Match 2: 14:22 – USA 38 – 0 Ireland
Match 3: 14:44 – France 36 – 12 Spain
Match 4: 15:06 – Canada 32 – 0 Brazil
Match 5: 15:28 – Russia 19 – 38 Fiji
Match 6: 15:50 – New Zealand 40 – 0 South Africa
Seabelo Senatla of South Africa challenged by Chihito Matsui of Japan on Day 1 of the Cape Town Sevens on Friday. Photo: Phando Jikelo / African News Agency (ANA)
Men (match, time, fixture, pool)
Match 1: 16:37 – Australia 21 – 26 Ireland (D)
Match 2: 16:59 – Samoa 19 – 24 Kenya (D)
Match 3: 17:21 – France40 – 7 Spain (C)
Match 4: 17:43 – England 24 – 26 Scotland (C)
Match 5: 18:35 – Argentina 33 -21 Canada (B)
Match 6: 19:05 – New Zealand 43 – 7 Wales (B)
Match 7: 19:35 – USA 14 – 28 Fiji (A)
Match 8: 20:03 – South Africa 49 – 0 Japan (A)