Triumphant SA U18 Sevens book Youth Olympics spot
The South African U18 Sevens booked their place in the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics in Argentina in October after defeating Namibia 32-12 in the final of the African Youth Games in Algeria on Saturday.
The victory ensured that they advanced through the three-day tournament unbeaten, conceding only 17 points in their six matches.
The team, guided by coach Marius Schoeman, got their campaign off to a flying start on Thursday, as they registered a comprehensive 38-0 victory against Burkina Faso in their opening match thanks to a solid display on attack and defence, and they built on this to defeat hosts, Algeria, 31-5.
They continued their fine form on Friday, as they thumped Tunisia 36-0 and Senegal 45-0 to book their place in the semi-finals against Mauritius.
Schoeman’s charges made easy work the match as they cruised to a 46-0 victory for final berth.
Namibia fought hard in the final, but this was not enough to topple the in-form SA U18 Sevens, who sealed the 32-12 win and their place in the Youth Olympics.
Schoeman was delighted with the team’s performance and said: “The players did incredibly well to win 46-0 in the semi-final. They final against Namibia was very physical, but we managed to win 32-12 in the end.
“We are obviously very happy because this also means that we qualify for the Youth Olympics.
“These performances show that we have a lot of young talent in Sevens. The result is also great for South African rugby,” said Schoeman.
SA U18 Sevens results at the African Youth Games:
Thursday, 19 July:
SA 38-0 Burkina Faso
SA 31-5 Algeria
Friday, 20 July:
SA 36-0 Tunisia
SA 45-0 Senegal
Saturday, 21 July:
SA 46-0 Mauritius (Semi-final)
SA 32-12 Namibia (Final)
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