Great Britain scored two late tries to snatch the win and break the Springbok Women’s hearts in their Olympics Sevens clash in Paris on Monday afternoon.
The South Africans started the game well against the fancied Brits, and found themselves on the board when Libbie janse van Rensburg scored with less than a minute played.
🏉The final whistle blows... A tough battle.#TeamSa #Forycountry #Olympics pic.twitter.com/p2poSWgdiY
— Team South Africa (@OfficialTeamRSA) July 29, 2024
Four minutes later, the Springboks were in seventh heaven once again when star player Nadine Roos scored to give the women in green a comfortable 12-0 lead.
Things were going right, and it looked like a historic upset was on the cards as the team, coached by Renfred Dazel, looked to add more points to the board.
Great Britain, though, were able to hit back before the break when Grace Crompton scored under the posts to narrow the gap at 12-7.
The second half began in the same way as the first, but it was the Brits who were first on the board when Isla Norman-Bell scored after just 18 seconds to put them ahead at 14-12.
A minute later, South Africa were handed a massive lifeline when Norman-Bell was sent to the sin bin, and they accepted it with both hands when Ayanda Malinga scored to put them back in front of a ding-dong battle.
However, with time running out, Britain delivered the sucker punch when Jasmine Joyce scored two late tries to seal a 26-17 win.
As a result, Dazel’s team, who had a slim chance of progressing to the knockout rounds before the game, have been eliminated from the main competition.
They opened their campaign with a 34-5 loss to Australia on Sunday, and followed that up with a heavy 38-0 defeat against Ireland later on the same day.
AFP