Bok women go down fighting

Cape Town - The Springbok Women’s Sevens finished in 12th place in the Canada World Series on Sunday despite putting up a brave fight against China in their final match of the tournament to complete another disappointing campaign.

The team went down 17-5 against 2016 Olympic Games hosts Brazil in the Bol semi-final early on Sunday evening, and then suffered a 31-21 defeat against China to close off the tournament.

South Africa started their clash against Brazil with a bang as a strong tackle by Sunelle Barnard earned them a turnover, which Mathrin Simmers took advantage of to force her way up-field, before passing back to Barnard for her first World Series try. But Brazil hit back with a try of their own from the kick-off and then managed to break through the defence again on the stroke of halftime to take a 12-5 lead.