The Junior Springbok Women got their R10 African U20 Women's Series off to a winning start at Paul Roos Gymnasium’s Markötter Stadium in Stellenbosch, where they defeated a gritty Tunisia 26-17 in the opening fixture of the tournament on Monday after leading 14-5 at the break.
After completely dominating the first half, during which time they scored two converted tries, the Junior Bok Women had to dig deep for the win after a tenacious fightback from the Tunisians.
The match came alive in the second half when the North Africans showed a vast improvement, starting with a try straight from the restart, and then tested the hosts’ defence with their strong scrummaging and powerful forward surges right to the final whistle.
The SA U20s could only put the game to bed in the 82nd minute when hard-working lock Dineo Ndlovu crashed over for her second try of the match.
In the end, the South Africans earned a very hard-fought win by scoring four tries and three conversions, while their Tunisian opponents managed three tries and a conversion.
The SA U20 Women completely dominated possession and territory in the opening 20 minutes. The cold and rainy conditions made handling difficult, with the home girls opting to keep the ball at close quarters amongst the forwards.
They also elected to tap and go throughout the match, and although this tactic worked for them, it would have been a better option perhaps to consider going for poles when some of the penalties rights were in easy range.
After the opening stages delivered no score, which was a result of Tunisia's stubborn defence and the home side's high error rate, the Junior Bok Women finally managed to crack the defence during the latter stages of the first half.
They improved their handling and looked much better after the ball after the water break in the 20th minute, which resulted in two converted tries scored through the impressive forward duo of Ndhlovu and Bronishia Hess (No 8). Both tries were converted by Naima Hlatshwayo (flyhalf).
However, Tunisia came out as a much-improved unit in the second half, using their dominant scrum to force several penalties and spreading the ball wide to test the desperate SA defence.
They made a perfect start by scoring straight from the second half restart to make the score 14-5 when strong front ranker Ranim Ben-Brahem dotted down for her first try.
The South Africans then struggled to handle the Tunisian pressure for a long period of time before finally scoring their third try through prop Sinothile Bhengu (19-5). But their opponents came charging back with two tries and a conversion to narrow the score to 19-17 with a few minutes left on the clock.
The host team used their driving maul to good effect to gain a lot of ground and when they were stopped short of the try line it was the lanky Ndlovu who scooped the ball to dive over for her second try to seal the game.
Bhengu, Ndlovu and Hess were the pick of the bunch amongst the home forwards, while Sindiswe Mbonja (scrumhalf) collected the Player of the Game accolade, and team captain Leigh Fortuin (inside centre) was also good on defence and attack.
Uganda's delayed arrival in South Africa meant a reshuffle of the fixtures. As a result, the San Clemente Rhinos' first game was against a combined SA Barbarians side, consisting of players from WP and Boland, with the Rhinos winning 86-10.
The second round of matches will take place on Friday in Stellenbosch when Uganda face Tunisia (10h00) and the Junior Bok Women tackle the San Clemente Rhinos (12h00).
Scorers:
Junior Springbok Women: Tries: Dineo Ndhlovu (2), Bronishia Hess, Anuschka Ekron. Conversions: Naima Hlatshwayo (2), Melissa Younie.
Tunisia: Tries: Ranim Ben-Brahem (2), Arij Mbarek. Conversion: Eya Sghaier.