Bok Women's 7s claim HSBC SVNS 3 title in Dubai

The Springbok Women's Sevens were crowned champions of the inaugural HSBC SVNS 3 tournament in Dubai on Sunday after they beat Argentina by 12-5 in a tightly contested final.

The victory also underlined their undefeated status at the Sevens Stadium, where the South Africans won all five their matches this weekend.

Victory in their semi-final over Poland earlier on Sunday also meant the Bok Women qualified for the HSBC SVNS 2 series, which will be played in Nairobi (14-15 February), Montevideo (21-22 March) and Sao Paulo (28-29 March).

South Africa started slowly against Argentina. They kept the South Americans at bay with strong early defence but did not quite show the same prowess on attack, where they failed to finish some of the opportunities created. In fact, it was Argentina who scored the only try in the first half to lead 5-0 at the break.

The second half was another arm wrestle but the South African attack was starting to cause their opponents problems, with a try by Zintle Mpupha three minutes from time levelling the scores at 5-5.

Patience Mokone then scored with a minute to go and the conversion by Nadine Roos sealed the deal for South Africa, although they still had to fight off a last desperate Argentina attack before the final whistle.

They also started slowly against Poland in the semi-final earlier in the day. An early try by Roos, when she broke away from strong scrum by her team, had them ahead but some slow reactions at a ruck resulted in Poland grabbing the incentive back, with Martyna Wardaszka scoring.

Poland had some momentum now but good defence and a lovely try by Maria Tshiremba returned the momentum to the Bok Women, who held a 12-5 lead at the break.

The second half belonged to South Africa. Tshiremba, Ayanda Malinga and Patience Mokone all scored when space was created on the outside, while Mpupha added the final try down route one following a quick penalty.

The way the Springbok Women’s Sevens defended and controlled the tempo of their matches was a highlight for SA coach Cecil Afrika, who also attributed their HSBC SVNS 3 success in Dubai to good teamwork from the players.

After an unbeaten run in pool play on Saturday, the Bok Women’s Sevens first eliminated Poland in the semi-finals on Sunday morning before fighting back to beat Argentina by 12-5 in the final.

In the process, Afrika claimed his second consecutive tournament title since taking over the coaching in October, adding the Dubai title to the Rugby Africa Women’s Sevens Cup they won in November in Nairobi, incidentally the team’s next stop on their 2026 journey.

“It was a great win and the players deserve all the credit – we really defended well but our attack also proved very effective,” said Africa.

“Overall, I think we got the balance right at this tournament. When we needed to, we defended our line very well and when the opportunity came, we could switch to attack and scored some really nice tries.

“One of the keys to a successful defensive effort is for players to work hard for each other, getting back in line, getting back off the floor to get in position and to trust the system and not try things on your own.”

Afrika said they will enjoy the win, which has seen them qualfy for the HSBC SVNS 2 series, before they will get back on the horse for those three tournaments, with the first being played in Nairobi on 14-15 February.

“We must also acknowledge those players who did not travel this time but are part of the squad,” he said. “They helped us with our preparation and I am happy to say we got our tactics and game analisys right also.”

Both South Africa’s women and Canada’s men’s sevens teams head into the HSBC SVNS 2 series as champions with South Africa completing an unbeaten Dubai campaign by defeating Argentina in the women’s final and Canada overcoming Belgium to claim the men’s title.

Defeated finalists Argentina and Belgium will also head to Nairobi next month, with qualification to the next stage of this season’s global sevens competition consolation for missing out on the title in the desert.

In the women’s competition, Czechia shocked Poland to claim third in an entertaining play-off meeting, Colombia finished fifth at the expense of Thailand, and Samoa beat Mexico to claim seventh in the inaugural HSBC SVNS 3 tournament in Dubai.

Samoa were too fast, strong and organised for Hong Kong China in the men’s third-place play-off; ever-impressive Madagascar styled their way to fifth, beating Italy 31-22 in an enthralling nine-try encounter, and discipline cost Tonga in the seventh-place play-off against a controlled Colombia.

Julie Dolezilova scored twice, while Kristyna Riegertova and Kristyna Plevova weighed-in with touchdowns as Czechia finished their HSBC SVNS 3 challenge with a thoroughly entertaining 24-14 win over Poland to claim the third and final place on the podium.

Juliana and Leidy Soto were the try-scoring stars as Colombia scored three unanswered tries to claim fifth with a 17-0 victory over Thailand. Karina Michelle Bagui Prado touched down for their third.

After their slow start on Saturday put paid to their ambitions, Thailand were straight out of the blocks on finals day, condemning opponents Samoa to a fourth defeat in as many matches, with a 31-10 win in the fifth-place semi-final. Dion Akwaja scored two of their five tries.

Mexico, who had failed to register a try on day one in Dubai, scored two in the second half of their fifth-place semi-final against Colombia but Jocelin Ruco ran in two of her own to bag a 26-10 win for the South American side.

Lutia Col Aumua scored two of Samoa’s five tries as they claimed seventh place with a 29-0 win over Mexico.

Belgium endured a difficult start to the men’s final after Vincent Hart received an early yellow card, and Canada capitalised immediately through Lachlan Kratz. Belgium responded quickly via Gaspard Lalli, but Kratz restored Canada’s lead before Lalli struck again in added time to keep the contest alive at the break.

Canada took control after the restart as Jack Shaw and Ethan Turner crossed, with Kratz converting three times to seal the win. Earlier, Canada had edged Hong Kong China 24-19 in a dramatic semi-final, with Thomas Isherwood scoring the golden-point try after denying Adam Doane at the end of normal time.

Their hopes of promotion to HSBC SVNS 2 may have been dashed, but Samoa were back on the front-foot in the third-place play-off against Hong Kong China. Warren Solomona scored two of the Pacific Islanders’ four tries on the way to a comfortable 25-5 win that combined power and pace. Matthew Rickard got the consolation score for Hong Kong China.

There were highlight-reel tries aplenty in the fifth-place play-off, as Madagascar beat Italy 31-22 in an enthralling nine-try encounter.

Italy had earlier roared back in the second-half of their fifth-place semi-final against a Tongan side, who had a chance to qualify for the Cup semi-final in Saturday’s final match. From 26-14 down shortly after the break, the Azzurri ran in three unanswered scores to claim a 28-26 win.

Impressive Madagascar ensured their place in the fifth-place final with a comfortable 26-10 win over a determined and proud Colombia and Discipline cost Tonga in the seventh-place play-off against a disciplined and controlled Colombia. Two penalty tries were the difference as the South Americans won 26-21.

The team will depart for South Africa later on Sunday and will arrive back in Cape Town at 11am on Monday.

Scores

Final: South Africa 12 (0), Argentina 5 (5)

SA – Tries: Zintle Mpupha, Patience Mokone. Conversion: Nadine Roos.

Argentina – Try: Maria Taladrid.

Semi-final: South Africa 36 (12), Poland 5 (5)

SA – Tries: Nadine Roos, Maria Tshiremba (2), Ayanda Malinga, Patience Mokone, Zintle Mpupha. Conversions: Roos (3).

Poland – Try: Martyna Wardaszka.

Most points

Nadine Roos – 54 (4 tries, 17 conversions)

Most tries

Maria Tshiremba – 7

Springbok Women’s Sevens squad for Dubai

#1 Leigh Fortuin

#2 Asisipho Plaatjies

#3 Patience Mokone

#4 Zintle Mpupha

#7 Maria Tshiremba

#9 Nadine Roos (captain)

#10 Byrhandré Dolf

#12 Liske Lategan

#14 Simamkele Namba

#15 Vianca Boer

#16 Shiniqwa Lamprecht

#23 Ayanda Malinga