Tenacious Bok Women's Sevens go down fighting in Spain

The South Africans came up short by 26-12 against Australia and lost by the same score to the USA, but Cecil Afrika's team can hold their heads high after showing a big improvement from the last time they played, in Hong Kong in April.

Against Australia in the opening match of the day, the South Africans came back strongly after the break, scoring the only points in the second half. It came via a try by Eloise Webb, who ran hard down the touchline and beat two defenders with the odd goose step or two.

The Bok Women also tackled hard, and a frustrated Australia found themselves forced into handling errors and not having any say in the second half.

Unfortunately for Zintle Mpupha and her troops, four tries in the first half determined the outcome of this match. Aussie try-scoring machine Maddison Levy scored a hat-trick to steer her side into a 26-7 lead at the break.

Australia scored their opener when a penalty kick for touch did not go out. The Aussies attacked from deep in their half and Madison Ashby scored under the sticks.

From the restart, Ayanda Malinga forced a gap and soft hands by Vianca Boer gave Maria Tshiremba space to attack, which she did and 70m downfield the speedster scored under the sticks. Byrhandre Dolf converted and scores were even at 7-7.

More errors by South Africa cost them dearly though. From the restart, Levy ran onto an inside pass to score and extend the lead. She scored her second soon after, another long-range attack from Australia stretching a tiring SA defence for a 21-7 lead.

Levy then completed her hat-trick in the final play of the half, beating two defenders after a turnover created a scramble in the South African defence.

Credit to Mpupha and co., though, for a brave second half that would have boosted the belief for the USA match.

In their second match, the Bok Women's Sevens put up another brave effort, pushing the USA close but ultimately going down by 26-12.

Kaylen Thomas scored the opening try for USA, but it was somewhat against the run of play. South Africa attacked well from side to side, but from a fourth consecutive ruck, Thomas read the play well and intercepted to run in under the sticks. The conversion was good and USA up 7-0.

From the restart, a turnover handed the USA their second try in as many minutes and suddenly the Bok Women were 14-0 down.

It remained a tight match though, bar the early tries, with a converted try by Malinga after six minutes bringing the South Africa right back into the match.

From a scrum, Malinga ran a tight line and broke free to run in from 50m, and with Dolf adding the extras to make it 14-7, the score told a better story of the match at the break.

South Africa scored first in the second half. From a scrum, Boer fed Dolf, who ran hard down the touchline to score in the corner. The conversion was wide, leaving the South African two points short.

A second try by Thomas edged the USA further ahead though. The USA kept attacking and from an angled run, Thomas scored. The conversion was good and the lead 21-12 with time running out for South Africa.

The USA then attacked brilliantly and scored a long-range try through Ariana Ramsey to seal the win.

The Springbok Women's Sevens will face Fiji in a crucial final pool match at 10h00 (SA time) on Saturday morning. They must win that match to stay in the running for a top-eight placing in the World Championship, as the defeats on Friday didn't yield any losing bonus points.

The winner in the match against Fiji will finish third on the log, where points' difference could determine which of the teams will progress to the quarter-finals. As Fiji beat USA in their opening match, a big win will be needed by South Africa.

Scorers:

South Africa 12 (7), Australia 26 (26)

SA - Tries: Maria Tshiremba, Eloise Webb. Conversion: Byrhandre Dolf.

Australia - Tries: Madison Ashby, Maddison Levi (3). Conversions: Teagan Levi, Kahli Henwood (2).

South Africa 12 (7), USA 26 (14)

SA - Tries: Ayanda Malinga, Byrhandre Dolf. Conversion: Dolf.

USA - Tries: Kaylen Thomas (2), Su Adegoke, Ariana Ramsey. Conversions: Sariah Ibarra (2), Kayla Canett.

READ MORE: Blitzboks go top of their pool in Spain with back-to-back wins on day one