Spain and ‘Boks open WXV with wins

WXV2: South Africa 31 Japan 24

The Test delivered classic clash of styles, with South Africa’s direct and abrasive power game up against Japan’s use of width, pace and skill. On the day, the Boks  came up trumps, but they had their defence to thank for this victory, despite scoring five tries to four.

Under pressure for most of the game - a lot of it through their own doing - South Africa were brilliant in defence, making tackle after tackle to clinch a famous victory under their new coaching staff.

Japan were out of the blocks faster and set up camp in the SA half, not scared to give the ball air and play with width, but the host team’s defence held firm until the 10th minute, when Kotomi Taniguchi was driven over from a maul.

Ayasa Otsuka’s conversion was good and after dominating the opening exchanges, the Sakura deservedly led by 7-0, but the Bok Women hit back almost immediately when Aseza Hele crashed over from a series of pick-and-goes in their opponents’ 22.

Seven minutes later, Otsuka scored a great try from a grubber into the SA in-goal area to stretch Japan’s lead to 12-5 after South Africa paid the price for some ill-discipline.

Chumisa Qawe then made it a two-point game again with almost a carbon copy of Hele’s try, with Japan unable to stop the big inside centre at close quarters.

Shortly before the break, South Africa took the lead for the first time when Sanelisiwe Charlie powered her way over for a superb try set up by a strong driving maul before the loosehead prop burst away to score.

Jakkie Cilliers was on song with the conversion and at 17-12 at half-time, the South Africans could breathe after they were put under pressure in their own half by Japan for large parts of the opening 40 minutes.

The Bok Women started the second half like they finished the first when Ayanda Malinga scored a great try after they showed patience on attack, keeping the ball in hand until a superb offload from Hele put the speedster away.

Cilliers’ conversion made it a 12-point game, but the Bok Women’s discipline started to falter and Japan’s Seina Saito scored two tries in quick succession, both after SA conceded penalties in their own half and the visitors set up mauls, with the Sakura No 8 finishing.

One of the tries was converted and scores were tied 15 minutes after the break, when South Africa managed to find a bit of rhythm again.

Japan lost Otsuka to the sin bin for a dangerous tackle and the Bok Women introduced their own Bomb Squad which immediately led to a try by the hard-working Vainah Ubisi, who was unstoppable close to the line. Cilliers converted and the South Africans were back in the lead with 20 minutes to go.

But the Japanese were not done yet, exploiting mistakes by South Africa to set up camp in the Bok Women’s 22, forcing the host team to defend, which they did with composure, snuffing out a few attacks by the Sakura.

Japan’s 72nd minute celebration, when Manami Mine went over next to the uprights, was short-lived however after the try was ruled out by the TMO for obstruction earlier in the move, and South Africa could breathe again after being under pressure.

The Sakura refused to give up and kept on attacking, but the South Africans refused to stop tackling and were crowned deserved winners.

Scorers:

Springbok Women 31 (17) – Tries: Aseza Hele, Chumisa Qawe, Sanelisiwe Charlie, Ayanda Malinga, Vainah Ubisi. Conversions: Jakkie Cilliers (3).

Japan 24 (12) – Tries: Kotomi Taniguchi, Ayasa Otsuka, Seina Saito (2). Conversions: Otsuka, Misaki Matsumura.

WXV3: Spain 83 Madagascar 0

Spain has started its participation in the WXV with a resounding 83-0 victory over the African runners-up, Madagascar . With their minds set on securing one of the two tickets to the World Cup in England that will go to the two best ranked teams in the general classification at the end of the tournament, the Spanish team took to the field with the aim of scoring as many points as possible. With a total of 13 tries, Las Leonas demonstrated a clear superiority over the Malagasy team, who were making their debut in the international tournament. The bitter note of the day was the possible injury of María Calvo less than 7 minutes from the end of the match and after scoring a fantastic try.

The MVP of the match was Clara Piquero , who was really active in attack, making three marks.

Today's captain, Cristina Blanco , said after the match that "it was a tough match mentally and physically, because the fatigue caused by the heat and humidity was really hard. Even so, we were very focused on doing our thing, practicing the facets of the game that we wanted to and scoring as much as possible to try to be at the top of the standings in case there were ties on points and we had to look at the average."

Juan González Marruecos , the national coach, has also expressed his satisfaction with the team's work, although of course he also sees areas for improvement that need to be polished for the next matches. "It is true that at certain times we gave up the ball too easily and at the points of encounter they caused us some problems in the first half, but we are satisfied with the work."

Spain:  1. Inés ANTOLÍNEZ, 2. Cris BLANCO (C), 3. Sidorella BRACIC, 4. Nadina CISA, 5. Lourdes ALAMEDA, 6. Lía PIÑEIRO, 7. María CALVO, 8. Carmen CASTELLUCCI, 9. Anne FERNÁNDEZ DE CORRES, 10. Amalia ARGUDO, 11. Clara PIQUERO, 12. Zahía PÉREZ, 13. Claudia CANO, 14. Claudia PÉREZ, 15. Claudia PEÑA.

16. Marieta ROMÁN x2, min 47), 17. María DEL CASTILLO (x1, min 47), 18. Laura DELGADO (x3, min 53), 19. Elena MARTÍNEZ (x6, min 61), 20. Alba CAPELL (x8, min 47), 21. Lucía DÍAZ (x15, min 55), 22. Maider ARESTI (x13, min 30), 23. Martina MÁRQUEZ (x10, min 47).

Madagascar:

1. Mamisoa RASOARIMALALA, 2. Nanou RAZAFIALIZAY, 3. Fenitra RAZAFINDRAMANGA, 4. Oliviane ANDRIATSILAVINA, 5. Sarindra SAHONDRAMALALA (C), 6. Sariaka NOMENJANAHARY, 7. Delphine RAHARIMALA, 8. Laurence RASOANANDRASANA, 9. Joela MIRASO, 10. Marie BODONANDRIANIA, 11. Zaya FANANTENANA, 12. Valisoa RAZANAJINIAN, 13. Veronique RASOANEKENA, 14. Claudia RASOARIMALALA, 15. Tiana RAAZNAMAHEFA.

16. Miora RABARIEVELO, 17. Nomenjanahary RAKOTOZAFI, 18. Felana RAKOTOARISON, 19. Eleonore RASOANANTENAINA, 20. Volatiana RASOANANDRASANA, 21. Vonjimalala RANOROVOLONA, 22. Olivia HANITRINIAINA, 23. Voahirana RAZAFIARISOA

Min 2 Try Clara PIQUERO Conversion Amalia ARGUDO 7-0// Min 6 Try Nadina CISA 12-0// Min 10 Try Cris BLANCO 17-0// Min 16 Try Zahía PÉREZ Conversion Amalia ARGUDO 24-0// Min 19 Try Nadina CISA Conversion Amalia ARGUDO 31-0// Min 22 Amarilla Marie BODONANDRIANIA // Min 24 Try Conversion Amalia ARGUDO 38-0// Min 39 Try Carmen CASTELLUCCI Conversion Amalia ARGUDO 45-0// Min 46 Try Clara PIQUERO 50-0// Min 49 Try Claudia PEÑA 55-0// Min 53 Try Clara PIQUERO Conversion Claudia PEÑA 62-0// Min 54 Amarilla Oliviane ANDRIATSILAVINA // Min 56 Try Anne FERNÁNDEZ DE CORRES Conversion Claudia PEÑA 69-0// Min 63 Amarilla Maider ARESTI// Min 67 Try Marieta ROMÁN Conversion Zahía PÉREZ 76-0// Min 73 Try María CALVO Conversion Zahía PÉREZ 83-0.