The Springbok Women’s Sevens team prepared well and accordingly, but the realities of being the least experienced team at the HSBC SVNS Perth tournament and having to play the host union on their national holiday, will make for a tough opening day for the South Africans.
Having retired from a game she loved so much after a bad injury and then making a very solid return to the team she loves even more almost a decade later will drive the effort from Shona-Leah Weston this weekend when the Springbok Women's Sevens take on Australia, Canada, and Great Brittain in the HSBC SVNS Perth.
The Blitzboks are well known for playing with smiles on their faces, so don't be surprised to see even more of that in Perth this weekend, when two uncapped players and three returnees to the squad will all bring energy to the squad determined to bounce back from a disappointing outing in Cape Town last month.
Abrasive but elusive, in your face but slippery, a hard man with a soft touch – David Brits is not an easy opponent, boasting a skill set that saw him help the Toyota Cheetahs win the coveted Currie Cup.
In 2019, Maria Tshiremba watched her first rugby match live, the Varsity Cup Sevens fittingly won by the University of Johannesburg, as this was where the speedster from Magau village in Limpopo was starting to make a name for herself in athletics.
Springbok Women’s Sevens coach Renfred Dazel has welcomed back experienced campaigners Eloise Webb and Zintle Mpupha for the third tournament in the 2024 HSBC SVNS, to be played at HBF Park in Perth, Western Australia next weekend.
The Blitzboks are a team that are best when they have ball in hand and that showed a week ago when they triumphed in Dubai, but disappointingly for Springbok Sevens supporters, they could not do the same this weekend in Cape Town, and paid the price.
Springbok Women’s Sevens coach Renfred Dazel said that despite their HSBC SVNS Cape Town performances over the weekend, he is still confident that the team will achieve their season goal of finishing in the top eight of the series.
Springbok Sevens head coach Sandile Ngcobo named Tiaan Pretorius as the only new player in his squad for this weekend's HSBC SVNS Cape Town tournament, with the former SA Schools centre replacing the injured Christie Grobbelaar from the squad that won the Dubai tournament last weekend.
Watching the final of the Emirates Dubai Sevens last Sunday, the celebrations by the Springbok Sevens at the final whistle may have looked slightly muted – because it was as the victory meant different things to different players.