Ace back Nadine Roos played a key role for the Springbok Women’s Sevens as they claimed the title in the final Challenger tournament in Krakow, Poland.
Image: Zach Franzen / World Rugby
Nadine Roos played a pivotal role in the Springbok Women’s Sevens winning the Krakow Challenger Cup title on Saturday evening.
They defeated Argentina 21-12 in the Cup final, finishing the weekend with a flawless performance in the third and final round of qualification for the Los Angeles SVNS playoffs next month.
It was a case of third time’s the charm after the Bok Women’s Sevens lost out in the first two tournaments, only making the semi-final and finals.
Saturday was a different case, though, as they took out African rivals Kenya (22-10) in the semis and the Argentines in the final with some solid defence and good attacking plays to outclass all their opponents.
They also had a flawless record in the pool games where they qualified for the SVNS Series playoffs next month.
It was a tight affair in the first half after South Africa opened the scoring through Zintle Mpupha, who showed some excellent tackle-fight to get over the try line.
Argentina, however, did not back down and challenged their opponents. Maybe for the first time this weekend, the South Africans showed a bit of vulnerability on defence when Maria Brigido Chamorro broke the line to score under the poles to level things heading into halftime.
But, tries by Roos and Rights Mkhari after captain Mathrin Simmers made a brilliant linebreak from her half of the field handed the champions a double score advantage in the second half to close out the game.
“We didn’t make it into a final in the first one, and in the second we played in the final and (now) it’s third time lucky because we got to win the final,” Simmers said after the victory.
“We’ve grown so much from the first round to now. The girls came out to play today, and they did very well. All the teams have grown and that was quality (preparation) going back into the SVNS qualifier for the World Series.”
Roos didn’t just stack up the points this weekend with her try-scoring and kicks at goal, but also defended well. As the Springbok Women’s Sevens sweeper (the last defender), she made a vital try-saving tackle against the Argentines while also shutting down attacks from her opponents throughout the weekend.
Head coach Renfred Dazel will be pleased with her performance and that of his entire squad. They played for each other and deservedly won the trophy in Krakow. It will give them massive momentum as they head to Los Angeles next month where they will try to become a core team on World Rugby’s SVNS Series again.