Bok Women’s Sevens Qualify for World Championships Despite Mixed Uruguay Results | Springboks Rugby

South Africa’s women’s sevens team has secured qualification for the World Championships despite a mixed performance at the HSBC SVNS tournament in Cape Town over the weekend, while Argentina topped the standings.

The SA side won three of their five matches, but coach Renfred Dlamini acknowledged areas for improvement following a narrow 15-14 defeat to Spain and a 22-10 loss to Argentina. Dlamini stated the team experienced “14 minutes of poor rugby” but was pleased with the outcomes.

“We started poorly against Spain in the first match on Saturday and finished poorly against Argentina in the last match on Sunday, but in between we really did well,” Dlamini said. The Bok Women secured victories against China, Brazil, and Kenya during the tournament.

The team’s defensive effort was a particular highlight, putting significant pressure on opponents, according to Dlamini. “Especially our defensive effort was massive and that did put teams under huge pressure. Fault the effort from the ladies, who really gave everything they had.”

Looking ahead to the final HSBC SVNS 2 tournament in Sao Paulo, Dlamini emphasized the demand for continued development and increased match experience at a high level. “We need to play matches at this level to get use to the intensity and quality as we are also in the process of building depth in our squad,” he explained.

The Cape Town tournament also saw the debut of Shanidinè Bezuidenhout, who Dlamini said performed well. Lerato Makua, who has limited tournament experience, also impressed the coach and has “matured into a exceptionally good international sevens player.”

Team management will assess any potential injuries before traveling to Brazil, but Dlamini anticipates a clean bill of health. “There were no injuries at the end of the tournament, but as This proves a back-to-back weekend for everyone, we need to manage that as well.”

World Rugby has confirmed Argentina (40 log points) and South Africa (34 log points) have qualified for the HSBC SVNS events in Hong Kong (April 17-19), Valladolid (May 29-31), and Bordeaux (June 5-7). Spain (34 points) is expected to secure third place, while China (28 points) and Brazil (22 points) are competing for the final qualification spot, according to tournament standings.

The draw for the 2026 World Cup has positioned Argentina and Spain favorably, ensuring they will not meet until the semi-final stage, according to reports. France and England are also separated in the draw until the later rounds of the competition.