Springbok Women's Sevens flyers Patience Mokone (left) and Maria Tshiremba had little opporunity to shine in a frustrating pool campiagn in Bordeaux at the weekend that ended any hopes of restoring their core status.
The Springbok Women’s Sevens saw their hopes of returning to the top tier of the SVNS circuit disappear in the Bordeaux sunshine on Saturday after a third successive pool-stage defeat brought their promotion bid to an end.
South Africa arrived at the final round of the SVNS World Championship in 10th place, needing a deep run at the Bordeaux SVNS – and realistically a place in the Cup quarter-finals with other results going their way – to keep alive their chances of finishing among the top eight teams that will contest next season’s SVNS 1 Series.
Their campaign began with a promising display against hosts France. After weathering early pressure and conceding the opening try to Lou Noel, the Bok Women responded through a Maria Tshiremba try. France, however, seized control from there, scoring three unanswered tries to secure a 22-7 victory.
Any hopes of a quick response were dashed by New Zealand later on Friday. The Black Ferns Sevens crossed within the opening 20 seconds and never looked back, racing into a 28-0 half-time lead before completing a dominant 42-0 victory.
