Springbok Women's Sevens face uphill battle for promotion after tough Hong Kong outing

The injury-plagued Springbok Women's Sevens face a mountain to climb in their bid for  promotion after finding the intensity of the Hong Kong Sevens a bridge too far. Missing "big guns" like captain Nadine Roos and winger Patience Mokone, the side struggled to adapt to the intensity of the top-flight teams.

A lack of cohesion was evident in the opening pool matches, where heavy defeats to powerhouses Canada and Australia highlighted the gulf in class. Coach Cecil Afrika acknowledged the challenge of jumping from the second tier to the world’s premier stage.

“We are not used to that intensity and could not respond well enough. Our kick-offs and kick-off receipts were not up to standard and that is an area we will work on one once we come back home,” he said.

While they managed to claim the significant scalp of Great Britain in their final pool match, the high was short-lived. They suffered a subsequent loss to the same team in the ninth-place semi-final before falling to Argentina on Sunday.

After finishing 12th in the first of three championship events, South Africa now face a massive battle to reach the top eight promotion spots during the final two legs in Spain and France next month. 

Their chances of staging a remarkable recovery could hinge on the potential return to fitness of the key players that helped them to work their way into the championship from SVNS 3 and then SVNS 2 this season, none more so than Roos. The SA Women’s Rugby Player of the Year is the fulcrum of the Bok Women’s Sevens team, and the other senior players will have to step up massively should she not recover in time. 

“The team did not have that much time together due to all the injuries and short turnaround, so we can certainly be better in the departments where we did well,” Afrika said.  “And of course, we will be better in those areas where we showed weakness. We have a lot of work to do back at home.” 

Despite the last-place finish, Afrika found the silver lining in their solitary victory in Hong Kong. 

“The win over Great Britain was massive because they held core status this year and we did not,” he said. “It proved we can compete at this level if we take our opportunities. When we failed to do that in the rematch, we paid the price. It was a vital lesson.

“I am pleased with some of our work on attack, where we managed to create some good tries when everyone was on the same page. We could not always sustain that, which is something we will try to fine-tune as we prepare for the tournaments next month.”

SA have been drawn in the same pool as Australia, USA, and Fiji in the Valladolid Sevens in Spain from May 29-31.