Mixed results for SA at RWC Sevens
Brad Morgan
10 March 2009
South Africa's challenge at the Rugby World Cup Sevens in Dubai on the weekend came up short in the quarterfinals as a series of stunning upsets left the event without any of its big guns in the semi-finals. However, while the South African men failed to meet expectations, the SA women's side exceeded expectations.
The narrowing of the gap between the leading teams and the chasing pack was actually available for all to see in the lead-up to the World Cup; Dubai's results revealed it for all to see – underlined, bold, and with exclamation marks.
In the first four events of the IRB Sevens World Series, 2008's dominant team, New Zealand, who had won 47 matches in succession during the season, failed to win any of the tournaments. South Africa won two events to open the season, then England won, and Argentina followed with a title in San Diego, which was only their second ever. Clearly, a dominant team no longer existed.
The warning had been sounded
To underline that fact, among the results achieved before Dubai, New Zealand had lost to Wales in Wellington, South Africa was beaten by Kenya, the Cook Islands beat Tonga and Australia, and Niue beat Samoa! The warning had been sounded, but there was no way that anybody could have foreseen the shocks that would happen at the World Cup.
South Africa went through play in Pool C unbeaten, but there were no runaway wins for coach Paul Treu's charges. They opened with a 26-5 win over Japan, but that was followed with a far tighter 15-7 win over Canada, and finally a 19-14 victory over Scotland.
In the playoffs, Wales started the run of quarterfinal upsets when they pipped New Zealand 15-14. Next, Samoa beat England, who had entered the World Cup tied with South Africa for the lead in the IRB World Sevens Series, 31-26 after extra time.
In their Cup quarterfinal, South Africa faced a tough nut in Argentina, the winners of the last leg of Sevens World Series in the USA.
Cup quarterfinal
Early on, matters looked good for South Africa as captain Mpho Mbiyozo went over for a try. Ryno Benjamin added a second touchdown three minutes into the second half to put SA 12-0 ahead. Argentina responded with a try by Martin Bustos Moyano, which Martin Rodriguez converted.
With time running out, Moyano crossed in the far right hand corner for his second try and then fought through a number of despairing cover tackles to dot down under the uprights. Rodriguez added the converstion and the Argentinians went on to a 14-12 victory.
After their loss, SA coach Paul Treu lamented his team's tackling in a statement: "We lost because our defence let us down. We never really committed to the first-time tackles and that allowed Argentina to get back into the game," he said.
'This is so disappointing'
"This is so disappointing because the same happened to us in Wellington and also in San Diego in the World Series, where we worked so hard for a lead, only to give it away through poor tackling.
"All credit to Argentina, though. We know what they're capable of and they definitely used their opportunities much better than us."
The run of shocks was completed in the last of the quarterfinals when Kenya crushed defending World Cup champions Fiji 26-7.
In the semi-finals, Wales beat Samoa 19-12 and Argentina blanked the Kenyans 12-0.
A late try in the final then won Wales the World Cup with a 19-12 victory over Argentina.
While the big guns of world rugby will be wondering how they failed to make an impact in Dubai, many are claiming that the success of other teams in the World Cup is good news for the game, especially for its hope of being included in the Olympic Games. International Olympic Committee members were in attendance in Dubai and reportedly very impressed with the event.
SA women
South Africa was in Pool D in the Women's World Cup, along with New Zealand, Italy, and Uganda.
Coach Denver Wannies' side, which had not been tested at such a high level before, opened their challenge with a 17-5 win over Italy. They followed that up with a comfortable 26-0 victory over Uganda, which ensured the team would play in the quarterfinals.
Facing New Zealand for top spot in the pool, captain Saloma Booysen and her team failed to fire and were well beaten 25-0.
South Africa's reward for finishing second in the pool was a quarterfinal showdown with Spain, who had topped Pool C, with their key victory being a 12-0 win over Canada, a long time power in the women's game.
In an upset, SA beat the Spaniards 15-7. Coach Wannies was ecstatic about his team reaching the semi-finals.
Commitment and confidence
"I am so thrilled for the women," he said. "They played with so much commitment and their confidence grew as the match progressed. We came here not knowing what to expect because we have not really tested ourselves at this level yet, but the girls took their chances and now we are in the semi-finals."
South Africa took on Australia in the final four and gave the women from Down Under all they could handle before finally buckling under by a 19-10 margin.
Orna Prinsloo, the manager of the SA women, praised the players after their exit. "We came here not knowing what to expect, because Women's Sevens is something new in South Africa.
"We learnt from every match and the women displayed a lot of courage. Our country can really be proud of them and they will definitely improve as a team if we can play more matches of this quality," reckoned Prinsloo.
For the record, the Australians went on to claim the title with a 15-10 victory over New Zealand in the final.
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