The South African Women’s team has won the World Rugby Sevens Challenger Series 2023 in Stellenbosch and we cannot be prouder, their efforts will go a long way to winning the tournament.
Stellenbosch, South Africa (24 April 2023) – South African women took one step closer towards promotion by winning the opening tournament of the World Rugby Sevens Challenger Series 2023 on Saturday at Markötter Stadium.
Following three days of energy-sapping action in Stellenbosch, hosts South Africa dug deep to turn in an impressive performance in the women’s final, coming from behind to beat Belgium 17-10 in front of their home supporters.
Hosts South Africa scored the only try in the first semi-final to book a place in the final of the World Rugby Sevens Challenger Series 2023 when Simamkele Namba crossed the whitewash, beating China 5-0.
In the second women’s semi-final decider, Belgium outplayed a confident Poland team on their way to their first-ever Challenger Series final. Belgium found themselves trailing 14-5 at the half-time mark against the 2022 finalists, however, they managed to find another gear in the second half to edge their European rivals 24-19.
In the final, Belgium scored two quick tries in the opening four minutes against South Africa, who managed to get one back through Ayanda Malinga to trail 10-5 at half-time. But with a home-ground advantage and passionate fans behind them, South Africa dug deep in the second half, scoring twice to win a hard-fought match.
South Africa’s captain, Mathrin Simmers said: “I’m very happy with the performance of the girls. We started a bit slow, but we pulled through at the end of it. We were trailing at half-time but I just told them to stick to the processes, relax and focus on what we needed to do and stay in the moment.
“We have a lot of confidence going into the second leg of the tournament, but for us it’s just about going back to zero and starting all over again. We’ll go through all the processes and the systems we do in training and go into the next leg of the tournament.”
The ultimate prize at stake for the tournament winners in the women’s competition, which will be decided on aggregate points over the two events, is promotion to the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series 2024 as the 12th and final team.
The Challenger Series was introduced in 2020 to boost rugby sevens’ development across the globe and provide a pathway for promotion to the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series.
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