Springbok Women’s Sevens coach Renfred Dazel said he was impressed by his squad’s efforts during the SVNS series that took place over the weekend in Dubai.
The ladies put in thrilling performances against New Zealand, Fiji and Great Britain but rued many missed opportunities.
They were leading the defending World Series champions, New Zealand’s Black Ferns Sevens, with under a minute to play, but could not quite seal the deal and allowed the number one team in the world to score a match-winner at the death, going down 19-14.
Against Fiji, the SA team held a 17-14 lead before falling to a late try and ultimately lost 21-17. They also held the lead against Great Britain before faltering in the second half to a 17-5 defeat.
10th place finish in @Dubai7s for 12th ranked SW7s, including their first win for 2024 #HSBCSVNS, dropping 12-5 result to @JRFURugby pic.twitter.com/aPUIwIGjWh
— SA Women's Rugby (@WomenBoks) December 3, 2023
Dazel said the ladies did well and proved that they can play against the world’s finest teams.
“We delivered a very good effort today and although we made mistakes, we never stopped trying and came close to the first win. I cannot fault the attitude or effort from our players.” said Dazel.
Day 2 of the SVNS series ended on a high for the Springbok Women’s Sevens as they finished in 10th position after Japan beat them to 9th place.
They will face France, Canada and the USA in Pool C as the HSBC SVNS Series stops by in the Mother City.
