The Springbok Women’s Sevens finished top of pool A of the International Invitational tournament at the Dubai Sevens and will play Ireland Invitational in the quarterfinals of the tournament on Saturday.
The SA side recovered brilliantly from the start of the competition on Thursday, where they were edged by France A, with blow-out scores against Kenya (31-0) and Tunisia (33-0), with the last result on Friday pushing Renfred Dazel’s side to the top of the pool.
They held a 14-0 lead at halftime against Tunisia, thanks to a brace by Mathrin Simmers, both converted by Nadine Roos. The second half saw more strong play by the South Africans, with a brace by Eloise Webb and a first try to Jakkie Cilliers extending the lead.
South African co-captain, Simmers, said the continuous improvement stemmed from the fact that the team was growing with every outing.
“We are in a work in progress. We did good things against France yesterday and made some mistakes, especially on defence, where we tended to tackle inwards, which left gaps on the outside. We rectified that against Kenya and then Tunisia today. Maybe, because we played them more often, we also were mentally in a better state against Tunisia, so we had real purpose today.”
Simmers said the time on the field was benefitting the squad.
“The more we play, the better we become and knowing that we could play up to three more matches here in Dubai will put us in good shape for Cape Town next weekend.
The match against Ireland Invitational is at 08h00 (SA time)
Scorers:
South Africa 33 (14), Tunisia 0 (0)
South Africa – Tries: Mathrin Simmers (2), Eloise Webb (2), Jakkie Cilliers. Conversions: Nadine Roos (4).
