The Springbok Women's Sevens qualified for the HSBC SVNS World Championship by finishing in second place at the HSBC SVNS 2 in Montevideo on Sunday, confirming a top four finish in the overall series with a tournament left to play, in Brazil next weekend.
With the top four sides gaining entry into the three-tournament World Championship, the Bok Women’s second placing in Uruguay, like they did in Kenya a month ago, means they will finish in the top four alongside Argentina, who defeated the South Africans by 22-10 at Estadio Charrua, with three second-half tries swaying the match towards the South Americans.
South Africa scored from the kick-off, with Lerato Makua going over as the Argentines could not control the ball, to give the Bok Women a 5-0 lead, but Argentina responded immediately by scoring a long-range converted try.
The lead was restored soon after, though, as Maria Tshiremba raced away when a poor clearance kick by her opponents landed in her lap, and she used her pace to score in the corner for a 10-7 halftime lead.
Argentina owned the second half though. They first scored down the blindside when the SA defence was caught napping, and when a good tackle on Nadine Roos dislodged the ball and resulted in a breakaway try, the writing was on the wall.
It remained a win for SA coach Cecil Afrika, team captain Roos and their squad though as they did enough in the opening two events to secure the ticket to Hong Kong, Valladolid and Bordeaux in the next couple of months.
Earlier on Sunday, the showdown against continental foes Kenya turned into a convincing win for the Bok Women’s Sevens, outscoring their East African opponents by five tries to nil for a 27-0 victory – their third straight clean sheet in Uruguay.
The tries all came in fine fashion, with both Byrhandré Dolf and Patience Mokone scoring braces, with the opening try from Maria Tshiremba another stunning piece of work. From a scrum, the ball was transferred to the flyer, who finished brilliantly in the corner to add to her tally of remarkable tries.
That opened the scoring, before Dolf dotted down just before the break when South Africa attacked the blind side from a scrum, catching the Kenyans napping.
A good defensive set by the Bok Women throttled the Kenyans, who just could not get enough possession in scoring areas of the field and that continued in the second half.
Dolf also scored the first try of the second half before two tries in two minutes by Mokone confirmed the pecking order on the African continent. On both occasions, Mokone had to shrug off would-be tacklers to dot down.
Scorers:
South Africa 27 (10) Kenya 0
Springbok Women's Sevens: Tries: Maria Tshiremba, Byrhandré Dolf (2), Patience Mokone (2). Conversion: Nadine Roos.
South Africa 10 (10) Argentina 22 (7)
Springbok Women's Sevens: Tries: Lerato Makua, Maria Tshiremba.
Argentina: Tries: María Paula Pedrozo, Talia Rodich, Candela Delgado, Marianela Escalante. Conversion: Sofia Gonzalez.