Springbok Women’s Sevens head coach Renfred Dazel praised the effort of Nadine Roos after the flyhalf achieved the unlikely feat of scoring all their points at the HSBC SVNS Vancouver.
Roos managed to score a try in all five matches they played (including a brace against Brazil) and kicked two conversions as well for a total tournament tally of 34 points. She was also amongst the team’s leading tacklers over all three days.
“Nadine is a true professional and her value to our team is immense,” said Dazel.
“Her personality is such that she wants to be a winner and always gives her best, which for someone with her talent, is quite a lot. She also fulfils a strong leadership role in the team and that pushes the standard for other, younger players in the squad.
“She really wants to compete against the best in the world and playing in the world series affords her that opportunity, so for us playing against the top sides is where she wants to be. It is great to have such a world class player in your team.”
Mathrin Simmers, one of the team’s co-captains, shared Dazel’s sentiments on Roos after a tough weekend in Canada.
“The results did not go our way, but Nadine had a massive tournament,” said Simmers. “She is an exceptional and clever rugby player, and we are lucky to have her as she always gives that effort in training as well. To add to that, she is a very nice person too.”
The injury toll also hit the team hard, and they started the last match against Great Britain with only nine fit players.
“That was tough, especially after two days of competition against the best teams in the world,” said Dazel.
“The injuries forced us to play some players out of their regular positions, which was a steep curve. They have trained there, but suddenly they must execute in a new position against a top-class team like Great Britain.
“We will have to follow a conservative route in bringing everyone back to fitness before next weekend. We will probably have one high intensity session and the rest will be all about detail.”
Following their 12th-place finish in Vancouver and the good performance by Spain in Canada, the Bok Women dropped to last on the series log.
Teams that finish outside the top eight will have to qualify for next season’s series again. The current bottom four are Brazil (20 log points), Spain (12), Japan (12) and South Africa (8).
South Africa have drawn Brazil again in Pool A at the HSBC SVNS Los Angeles next weekend, and will also face New Zealand and Fiji.
Spunky Chick
South Africa also has a women’s national cricket team—they’re currently 6th in the rankings!
Slow Trot
Abbas Ali Baig was the first Indian cricketer to be kissed during a Test match – When Abbas Ali Baig reached a half-century in the third Test match against Australia at the Brabourne Stadium in 1960, a pretty young girl ran all the way from the North Stand to greet the batsman. She kissed Baig on his cheek.