South Africa put the icing on a perfect Rugby Africa Women’s Sevens weekend in Accra, Ghana, when they saw off Kenya 19-10 in the final and in so doing qualified for next year’s World Rugby Challenger Series.
Such was the dominance of South Africa that they played six matches and only Kenya were able to score against them, and that came in the final. Before that they’d rolled over Burkina Faso (38-0), Zimbabwe (36-0), Tunisia (40-0), Senegal (50-0) and Madagascar (42-0). Overall, it was a record of South Africa winning six games, scoring 225 points and conceding 10.
The final though was hotly-contested. A Kenya try, early in each half, twice handed the East Africans the lead, while the South African Women also conceded two yellow cards in the final, adding to their problems.
Kenya took the lead (5-0) before a try by Ayanda Malinga levelled matters. The outside back then conceded a yellow card for a high tackle late in the first half.
Kenya used their numerical advantage at the start of the second half, getting a second try to take the lead again, but the class of the South Africans came through in the end. Felica Jacobs showed her value as impact player with two tries in the last five minutes, with the second, on the buzzer, extending a 12-10 lead to a 19-10 win.