BlitzBok Women survive their massive injury blow
DAY ONE WRAP: The South Africa Women’s Sevens team had a mixed bag of results in Nairobi on Saturday, winning two of their three HSBC SVNS 2 matches at Nyayo National Stadium.
An opening 14-12 win over Spain was followed by a 0-12 defeat to Brazil, before they finished the day with a 12-10 win over Kenya, resulting in South Africa finishing the day second on the log behind Argentina, who will be one of their two opponents on Sunday, with China being the other.
The tournament did not start well for South Africa, which qualified by winning the HSBC SVNS 3 tournament in Dubai last month. In the opening spell against Spain, they lost forward Leigh Fortuin with a fractured elbow, an injury that ruled her out for the remainder of the tournament.
The injury came after some good attacking play by South Africa, wearing their alternative white-and-green strip, and, to add to their misery, Spain broke away on a rare attacking opportunity to score the opening try.
Up to that point, a couple of breakdowns and scrum penalties did not help the BlitzBoks Women either. Despite that, they dominated most of the play, with Spain scoring against the run of play. Nadine Roos pulled one back almost immediately as she raced in from 80m and her conversion tied the scores at the break.
The second half was more even, with Spain starting to attack with more purpose and possession. The SA side seemed to lose some of their rhythm and the Spanish struck when they outworked the defence.
The conversion went wide for a 12-7 lead to Spain, but with time running out on the clock, Liske Lategan broke away to score under the sticks, with the conversion giving the South Africans their win.
Against Brazil, who lost their first match to Kenya, it was again a matter of not finishing off the chances created. Frantic defence and rushed passes hampered both teams as they struggled to get any fluency in their attacking play.
For the Bok Women, Lerato Makua in particular, proved a handful, as her physical presence had Brazil on the back foot, but a poorly executed pass by South Africa provided the gap the South Americans were looking for and they raced away for the opening score, with the conversion handing them a 7-0 lead at the break.
The second half started well for South Africa with Ayanda Malinga just beaten by a bouncing ball following a good kick by Byrhandré Dolf. Most of the half was played in Brazil’s territory, with good defence by the Bok Women keeping their opponents under pressure.
Credit to Brazil, who managed to hold on to the ball for long spells. The only try of the half came from a South African mistake though, as Asisipho Plaatjies lost possession and the opponents scored from the turnover.
There was still an opportunity for a losing bonus point in the last minute and South Africa tried their best, but they just could not get their act together in this fixture.
Two tries, both in the first half, gave South Africa the buffer to withstand a desperate Kenya comeback in the second half.
Shiniqwa Lamprecht scored the opener early on. A Kenyan lineout went astray, Roos caught the ball and fed Lamprecht who went over under the sticks. Roos converted for a 7-0 lead.
A yellow card to Makua for a high tackle gave Kenya a chance to strike back and they did when their captain, Sheila Charija, scored after running through a gap between Lamprecht and Roos.
The conversion was wide and the Bok Women were 7-5 up. They extended that lead to 12-5 with a try by Maria Tshiremba, who scored after three good attacking phases and recycles, started by Simamkele Namba, who made the initial break.
Spurred on the by huge crowd, Kenya came back strongly in the second half and scored late in the half, but the conversion went wide. All the Springbok Women’s Sevens team had to do was to secure the restart and kick the ball into touch, duly executed by Lamprecht.
South Africa’s fixtures
Sunday, February 15 (SA Time)
10.00: China
14.12: Argentina
SA’s results:
South Africa 14 Spain 12
For South Africa:
Tries: Nadine Roos, Liske Lategan.
Cons: Roos, Byrhandré Dolf.
For Spain:
Tries: Requena Zamora, Miranda Miralles
Con: Fernandez de Corres Del Rio.
South Africa 0 Brazil 12
For South Africa: None
For Brazil:
Tries: Tahlita Costa, Bianca Silva
Con: Costa
South Africa 12 Kenya 10
For South Africa:
Tries: Shiniqwa Lamprecht, Maria Tshiremba
Con: Nadine Roos.
For Kenya:
Tries: Sheila Charija, Laura Oswago.
*See the other Day One results and Day Two fixtures below!
Saturday, February 14
Women’s
China 10-20 Argentina
Brazil 12-15 Kenya
Spain 17-19 Argentina
China 15-12 Kenya
Brazil 17-28 Argentina
China 0-21 Spain
Men’s
USA 40-0 Belgium
Uruguay 14-19 Germany
Kenya 29-12 Canada
Uruguay 14-17 USA
Germany 26-7 Canada
Kenya 33-0 Belgium
USA 41-7 Canada
Uruguay 38-14 Belgium
Kenya 15-10 Germany
Sunday, February 15 (Kick-off is SAST)
Women’s
Brazil v Spain (10.22)
Kenya v Argentina (10.44)
Brazil v China (14.34)
Spain v Kenya (14.56)
Men’s
Canada v Belgium (11.06)
USA v Germany (11.28)
Kenya v Uruguay (11.50)
Germany v Belgium (15.18)
Uruguay v Canada (15.40)
Kenya v USA (16.02)
