Coach Marius Schoeman has applauded the winning effort of the SA Rugby Sevens Academy team at the Punta del Este tournament on Sunday.

The academy side beat Ireland, France and Chile on the way to the title, despite only having nine players available for the final.

‘It was a great start to the year for us, and the guys really had to dig deep for this one,’ Schoeman said after they defeated Chile 21-5 in the final.

‘We only had nine fit players left for the final match and given the fact that Chile beat us on day one, it was a remarkable effort by the squad. They really stepped up today. Our wins over Ireland [31-7] and France [24-14] was due to excellent play by the guys. We did not let ourselves down in the final either.’

The team now travels to Vina del Mar in Chile, where the second of the Sudamerica Rugby Sevens tournaments will take place this weekend. The tournaments are part of the South American qualification process for the Sevens World Cup, to be played in San Francisco in July.

South Africa will face Brazil, Ireland and Paraguay in Pool A of the Chile tournament.

Photo: South African Rugby/Twitter