The Springbok Women's Sevens built on their encouraging form from Monday, when they just went down to Great Britain and Japan, to outplay Fiji by 21-15 in the play-off match for 11th place, a performance that left their coach Renfred Dazel both proud and relieved.
“I am really happy for this group of players that we could finish the season like this,” said Dazel.
“It has been 11 months of rugby for most of them and to finish the way we did was a proud moment for all of us.”
Upon reflection of their maiden Olympic Games, Dazel feels the enormity of the occasion got to them on the first day, when they suffered big defeats against Australia and Ireland.
“In both our matches on Monday, we were in a position to win it, but our game management was not good enough and we paid the price,” he said.
“That is why this win over Fiji, who won bronze in the last Olympics, was so important. The team showed they can compete and that will be a good boost for the system.
“You can see in all the games that the players had long seasons and for us to fight we way we did till our very last match was rewarding.”
According to Dazel, the road to the 2028 Olympics will soon be laid out: “We will do reviews, but also plan ahead to the next Games and how we can get there. We will be looking at a bigger, but younger group of players for that path, but for now, it is just massive relief that we finished our very first Olympics with a win.”
Nadine Roos scored two tries against Fiji.
Nadine Roos scored two tries and three conversions to finish the match with a personal contribution of 16 points and the tournament as South Africa top points' scorer.
Both Roos's tries were scored in the first half when South Africa capitalised on some bad discipline by the Fijiana.
The first try, after 80 seconds of the game, came from a sniping break from an attacking scrum, and Roos converted from a tight angle to make it 7-0 before Fiji had two players sin-binned for foul play.
From yet another penalty conceded by Fiji, Roos took a quick tap and sped away for her second converted try after five minutes. South Africa could have scored a third try before the break but an unforced error handed possession back to Fiji.
South Africa finally got their third try early in the second half when Zintle Mpupha's five pointer 90 seconds after the break, followed by Roos’s third conversion, made it 21-0.
However, Fiji hit back with three unconverted tries to make the South Africans sweat on defence, but it wasn't enough and the Bok Women's Sevens team could finally celebrate a well-deserved victory.
Scorers:
South Africa 21 (14) - Tries: Nadine Roos (2), Zintle Mpupha. Conversions: Roos (3).
Fiji 15 (0) - Tries: Kolora Lomani, Verenaisi Ditavutu, Talei Wilson.
