South Africa beat France to win Hong Kong Women’s Rugby Sevens

Kenya ran out easy winners in the Bowl, defeating Sri Lanka 29-0; China win the Plate final 7-5 over Kazakhstan

South Africa held off France to win the Hong Kong Women’s Rugby Sevens final at Hong Kong Stadium 14-7 on Friday.

South Africa looked the best team throughout day two and delivered when it mattered in the final, with Zenay Jordaan and Marithy Pienaar scoring the tries. With a number of senior players out, South Africa coach Renfred Dazel praised the work of his young talent.

 South Africa Beat France to Win 2016 Hong Kong Women’s Rugby Sevens

“The youngsters pulled something out of hat,” Dazel said. “The girls deserve it.”

Dazel acknowledged the efforts of his entire defence and singled out Nadine Roos for her brilliant work after a day of cut-throat matches.

“In the morning we started in a must-win situation against France and we beat them,” he said. “The outstanding players were the youngster Nadine Roos and Marithy Pienaar.”

South Africa had earlier defeated Japan 19-10 in an entertaining semi-final after grinding out a 7-5 win over the previously undefeated France to lock in their semi-final berth.

Hong Kong came agonisingly close to making it to the final, pushing France all the way and creating a number of opportunities in a 5-0 semi-final loss.

Hong Kong went on to finish the tournament in fourth place, losing the third versus fourth play-off 10-5 against Japan.

Earlier in the day, Hong Kong staved off a physical Japan side to book their semi-final berth, fighting back from 7-0 down to snare a gutsy 14-7 win in their final pool match.

China won the Plate final 7-5 over Kazakhstan to cap a much improved second day, while Kenya ran out easy winners in the Bowl, defeating Sri Lanka 29-0.