Tuks women’s seventh team beat top international team
The Tuks women sevens team has beaten several international teams in the past, but this past weekend they set a new standard by beating the world's fifth best women's team.
The Delta Drone TuksWomensRugby7’s at the weekend possibly notched up their best victory since the inception of the team when they managed to beat France in the semi-final of Spain’s Costa Blanca Tournament.
France is currently ranked 5th in the World Rugby HSBC Seven Series. It is not the first time that Tuks has managed to get the better of one of the world’s top ten teams. Last year they managed to beat Wales. Tuks won 14-10 against France.
Unfortunately for Tuks, they got unstuck against Poland in the final, losing 22-5.
Captain Libbie Janse van Rensburg ascribed their loss to the brilliance of the Polish forwards.
“They dominated the scrums, line-outs as well as the play from the kick-off. It stands to reason that without the ball in hand, there is not a lot one can do to attack. It is a pity because of Nadine Roos, Kemi Baloyi, Megan Phillips and myself combined well throughout the tournament scoring try after try,” she explained.
According to Janse van Rensburg the result would have looked different if they could only get more ball possession.
“As a whole, I am happy with our performance. The game against France was unbelievable. I was genuinely impressed with the never say the attitude of my teammates. There was not a moment that we were intimidated. We gave as good as what we got for the duration of the game. When France scored their first try, we immediately retaliated by also scoring, and that was how the game played out right to the end,” said the inspirational captain.
Janse van Rensburg said their main goal every time they compete internationally is to improve on their previous results. They were third during last year’s Costa Blanca Tournament.
She was also full of praise for the way the team’s newcomers were able to lift the standard of their play. Every time a player was substituted, the standard of play improved. Janse van Rensburg believes this shows that the Tuks team has got depth.
In their first game, Tuks outplayed Belgium to win 36-5, they were equally dominating in the second thrashing Costa Blanca 46-0. The score in their third encounter against the Scottish Ecosse was 24-17. Tuks was in impressive form during their quarterfinal encounter beating Spain’s Viator team 56-0.
The team’s head coach, Riaan van der Merwe, is quite excited that Andrea Maria Atomi, a star player from Romania, has indicated that she wants to do her honours studies at the University of Pretoria to be able to play more regularly for Tuks. She has represented Tuks in the past. The Romania Rugby Union is prepared to assist her financially if she gets accepted as a Tuks student.
For free breaking and community news, visit Rekord’s websites:
For more news and interesting articles, like Rekord on Facebook, follow us on Twitter or Instagram.
