The Springbok Women’s Sevens fought bravely before going down 17-12 to Fiji in their final Pool B match at the Valladolid Sevens on Saturday morning.
South Africa needed to win the match — and deny Fiji a losing bonus point — to have any chance of sneaking into the cup quarter-finals as one of the best third-placed teams following opening defeats to Australia and the USA.
They started brightly, moving the ball confidently through the hands, with speedster Maria Tshiremba unfortunate to have the ball stripped from her grasp with the try-line beckoning. The Springbok Women eventually grabbed the score their early endeavour deserved when playmaker Byrhandré Dolf snapped up a misplaced Fiji pass close to the line to dot down.
However, the Fijiana gradually grew into the contest and scored three unanswered tries either side of half-time. They led 12-5 at the break and extended that advantage to 17-5 immediately after the restart thanks to veteran Reapi Ulunisau’s milestone 100th international sevens try.
Tshiremba brought South Africa back into the contest when she crossed for their second try after a brilliant inside pass from the lively Dolf. Eloise Webb added the conversion to cut the deficit to five points at 17-12.
The Springbok Women appeared to have all the momentum, but their comeback hopes suffered a major setback when Tshiremba was shown a yellow card for accidental head contact in a tackle. Fiji held firm during the tense closing stages to secure their place in the quarter-finals later in the day. The Springbok Women, meanwhile, were left to regroup for the placement play-offs.
The defeat is another blow to South Africa’s hopes of securing promotion from SVNS 2 to Division 1 next season. Having arrived in Spain bottom of the overall standings after the opening World Championship event in Hong Kong, they face an increasingly difficult task of breaking into the top eight.
With only one tournament remaining in Bordeaux, France, next weekend, time is rapidly running out for the Springbok Women to rescue their campaign and keep their promotion ambitions alive.
Points-scorers
South Africa 12 (5) Tries: Byrhandré Dolf, Maria Tshiremba. Conversion: Eloise Webb.
Fiji 17 (12) Tries: Atelaite Buna Ralivanawa, Rogosau Adimereani, Reapi Ulunisau. Conversion: Mariana Talatoka.
