Nadine Roos Ace back Nadine Roos will be a key player for the Bok Women Sevens in the final qualifier of the SVNS Challenger Series in Poland. Photo: World Rugby
Image: Zach Franzen / World Rugby
The Springbok Women’s Sevens won’t have the pressure of a home tournament on their shoulders as they take on the final Challenger Series round in Krakow, Poland, to secure a place at the SVNS Series qualifier next month.
After two rounds in Cape Town, the last one starts on Friday in the Polish city, where the South Africans will face a couple of desperate teams looking to make the top four, who will then head to Los Angeles in May for the qualifier.
Currently second on 34 points, behind fellow African nation Kenya (40 points), the Bok Women’s Sevens side will have a bone to pick with the Lionesses after their exploits in Cape Town.
They won both rounds after trumping their hosts in the knockouts. Looking at the log positions, the two sides will likely meet again somewhere in the play-offs in Poland.
South Africa will face hosts Poland (11.34am) in the opener on Friday morning and Czechia (3.04pm) and Argentina (6.12pm) for a place in Saturday’s knockouts.
Looking at how they fared against their first two opponents in the Mother City, the clash against Argentina is likely to be their toughest.
Captain Mathrin Simmers said on Thursday that they have clear objectives for the weekend, but won’t look too much back on their performances in Cape Town when they start their group games.
“We won against both teams at home, and it gives us some confidence, but that was then and this is now,” she said about the opening two games.
“Each team here wants to be in the top four, so they will come out guns blazing for us.
“We won’t take these games lightly, because they are good when they have the ball in hand. We won’t underestimate any team here, but we will follow our processes and what we want to achieve.
“We will face Poland at home in front of a good crowd, and they will not only be fired up, but desperate.
“Both European opponents still have an outside chance of finishing in the top four, and this is their final opportunity. We need to be ready.”
According to Simmers, they’ve adapted well to the Polish cold after coming from a hot Stellenbosch, where they have done most of their preparation.
While they know the conditions might suit opponents in the first two games, they’ve prepared as best as possible.
“We had a productive session here, and coach Renfred (Dazel) even joked that we needed to move to a colder home base as it looks like the snappy weather improved our session.
“We are in a good position coming into the tournament, but that means nothing if we don’t rock up on day one with a solid showing against Poland, and that will be our main focus heading into the tournament.”
Springbok Women’s Sevens Squad
1 Rights Mkhari 2 Zandile Masuku 3 Kemisetso Baloyi 4 Kyla de Vries 5 Zintle Mpupha 6 Shiniqwa Lamprecht 7 Mathrin Simmers (captain) 8 Vianca Boer (debut) 9 Nadine Roos 10 Ayanda Malinga 11 Maria Tshiremba 12 Patience Mokone (debut)
