By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The Springbok Women’s Sevens team defended their Rugby Africa Women’s Sevens title with a clinical 22-0 win over hosts Kenya at the RFUEA Grounds in Nairobi on Sunday.
The defending champions maintained their unbeaten record in the competition, not conceding a single point after seeing off Ghana 48-0 in the cup quarter-final, before accounting for Madagascar with a 29-0 victory in the semi-final.
Coach Cecil Afrika, said, it was a great team effort that brought them success.
He said the attitude of the players during the tournament, a strong desire to play for the team and each other, and a good team spirit were foundations they could build on during their five matches, in which they scored 214 points without conceding a solitary point in Nairobi.
“The players really deserve the credit, they did put in such hard work and the results were a welcome reward for that,” said Afrika.
“We came here to defend our title, but also to qualfiy for the Challenger 3 tournament, something we managed to do. So it is mission accomplished.”
Afrika was happy that the players stuck to the game plan: “There was a good bond in the squad and the players remained a tight knit group throughout the weekend. That helped in us executing what we wanted to.”
The SA coach added that the next phase of their rebuilding phase will get under way next week.
“Next up is the international invitational tournament in Dubai in two weeks’ time, as part of the Emirates Dubai Sevens, so the focus will move to that now.
“We will name some players in that squad that are still developing as we need to broaden the base for the Challenger 3 tournament in January, that will also take place in Dubai.
“I believe we will have good internal competition inside the squad to make it to that big one in Dubai next year.”
Afrika said he is very proud of this group and believes the country are too: “We really go out there to represent out country to the best of our abilities and to make them proud, I think we managed that. A big thank you to all the supporters, it really helps to motivate us.”
Team captain Nadine Roos also complmented her teammates for their effort.
“We really came here with a strong mindset and purpose and I think we showed what we are capable of,” said Roos.
“I think the way we defended, especially in the final against Kenya, proved how much we wanted to win as we kept them out, as we did with all our opponents during the weekend.”