The Springbok Women’s Sevens team lost 40-0 against the New Zealand Women in their opening match on day one of the Cape Town Sevens on Friday.

Despite being the host, this fixture was the biggest mismatch in the women’s category with the New Zealand sitting at the top table of the women’s game, while South Africa are minnows.

It was only the second time these sides met and incidentally New Zealand were victors by the same scoreline then.

South Africa defended well in the first half, but three mistakes led to three tries and a 21-0 lead for New Zealand at the break.

South Africa were erratic and all over the place in the second half. They struggled to get out of their half of the field and that led to three further tries for the opposition. However, one of New Zealand’s conversion attempts was off target, which limited the score to 40 points.

Notwithstanding the result, the Imbokodo can still qualify for the playoffs if they beat Fiji and Japan in their two remaining pool games on Saturday.

Photo: @WomenBoks/Twitter