Springboks earn consolation win over Spain in Women’s Sevens

Johannesburg - The Springbok Women's Sevens team at last have something to smile about after they beat Spain 21-19 on day two of the France Sevens in Toulouse on Saturday.

And the reward for their first win of the tournament is a spot in the ninth-place final against Scotland, the other invitational team at the tournament, and the good news for their supporters is that the match will kick off at 9.52 am on Sunday morning and will be broadcasted by SuperSport.

The victory over Spain confirms the progress made by the South African women, who on Friday lost out to series winners, Australia, and to the third-placed USA.

Earlier on Saturday, they suffered a 59-0 defeat to Fiji, bronze medallists at last year’s Olympic Games, in their final pool game.

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Springbok Women's Sevens coach, Paul Delport, opted to start with all the players making their debuts in the Fiji clash though, and rested experienced players such as captain Sizo Solontsi, Nadine Roos and Eloise Webb, in anticipation of the afternoon game. Mathrin Simmers also sat out due to a troublesome knee.

The South Africans finally found their attacking groove against Spain with their backline creating space for the outside runners. Roos sliced through a gap to send Ayanda Malinga on a power run and the wing finished off 60m downfield, touching down under the poles for Roos to convert.

Spain came back with a try of their own to level scores at the break, but the Springbok Women's Sevens had their tails up.

Roos raced all of 80m to give her side a 14-7 lead in the second half after slicing through an outside gap. Her contribution did not finish there, as she ran onto a Zintle Mpupha pass minutes later for her second try. She also kicked the conversion to push the lead to 21-7 with two minutes to play.

Spain attacked well in the end, but their second try was unconverted and despite another touchdown by the Europeans, the celebrations on the touchline had started already.

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