The Springbok Women beat Italy for the first time in their history with a 29-24 victory in York to put them into their first Women's Rugby World Cup quarterfinal.
While the result officially only left the South Africans on the brink of the quarters, that would be confirmed if France beat Brazil later on Sunday, and the French were more than 50 unanswered points up with that match at an advanced stage.
Ireland and New Zealand booked their quarterfinal places from Pool C earlier in the day and South Africa will join them after a nervous win over the Italians.
South Africa raced into a 17-5 lead early on but Italy improved in the second period and fought back to 24-24 heading into the final five minutes.
Look at the scenes at full-time 🥹🇿🇦
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The Springbok Women will reach the quarter-finals if France beat Brazil in Pool D 🏆⌛
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South Africa's powerful forwards had the upper hand all game and Sinazo Mcatshulwa burrowed over from close range for the winning score to spark wild scenes of celebration.
“This was amazing; shout-out to the team, we came out and had a job to do,” flyhalf Libbie Janse van Rensburg said.
“We said we were going to be direct. This is huge — we talked about making history for women's rugby in South Africa and we did that.”
Ireland held off a spirited Spain to win their Pool C clash 43-27 as they ran in seven tries in an entertaining encounter. Their 43 points is a new record at the World Cup for the side.
Wing Anna McGann and number eight Grace Moore bagged two tries each, to go with scores for flyhalf Dannah O'Brien, wing Amee Leigh Costigan and centre Eve Higgins.
Yonela Ngxingolo gets it done and the Springbok Women lead 💪🇿🇦
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Ireland led 24-12 at half time but Spain kept coming and scored five tries themselves.
“We knew Spain would come out firing and they pushed us right to the end,” Ireland prop Ellena Perry told the BBC. “We needed front-foot ball and that was difficult, but we did that and are delighted with the win.”
Braxton Sorensen-McGee scored a hat-trick of tries for New Zealand as they claimed a 62-19 victory over Japan.
They ran in 10 scores in all after leading 38-5 at halftime but captain Ruahei Demant admitted they have yet to hit their stride.
“We are still a way off, we have not yet put in an 80-minute performance yet,” she said.
Reuters
