Mike Greenaway
South Africa’s women’s sevens team was blitzed off the park at the Stade de France last night to emphatically rule out any chance of them emulating their male colleagues.
To be fair, a medal finish was never on the cards for the South African ladies. The heavy defeats they suffered in their Pool B games against Australia and Ireland illustrate how much work the local ladies must do to catch up with their bronze-winning male counterparts.
In their final game of the day, the SA women were up against an Ireland team that had lost their opening game against Great Britain, in something of an upset, and the Irish were determined to get their first pool points on the board.
It took them most of the first half to break down the South Africans, and it was from a counter-attack that was initiated when a Bok attack broke down in the Irish 22. Sadly, it was one-way traffic after that failed SA attack.
It was a 7-0 lead for Ireland at the break and when they scored a minute into the second half, the Bok women were in trouble at 14-0. And heads dropped when Stacey Flood scored Ireland’s third try and there was a danger that the floodgates would open when Beibhinn Parsons scored the fourth and the fifth try came soon after.
It would be 38-0 in the end.
Earlier in the day, the Springbok Women had opened their account in an unfortunate fashion when a slick Australia team demolished them 34-5. The Aussies scored almost at will in the first half for a 24-0 lead before the South Africans steadied their ship and were competitive in the second period.
Australia are tipped for gold and it was pleasing to see their opponents fight back when it seemed a 50-pointer was on the cards.
Australian playmaker Maddison Levi was a devastating threat to the SA defence and scored four tries in the match.
The Bok Women fixed their defensive structure in the second half and with more ball coming their way, there was a historic moment when Nadine Roos scored her team’s first try at the Olympic Games.
South Africa’s nerves settled after half-time and they forced the Australians into a number of errors. That gave them confidence for their second match of the day against Ireland and they held the Irish in the first half before melting in the second.