It’s taken two matches for the visiting French national women’s hockey team to acclimatise to South Africa’s balmy conditions, but they turned up in style with a 4-1 win in the third Test against hosts South Africa, at the WPCC in Cape Town on Monday, 22 January, 2024.
The SA women’s hockey team took the home-ground advantage in encouraging wins in the opening encounters of the Test series, beating the visitors 2-0 and 2-1 at SACS in Newlands, but the change in venue coincided ideally for France as they rose to a daunting 4-1 win in the third encounter, in cooler conditions.
South Africa used their entire team in attempts to overturn France’s dominance on Monday evening, with keeper Marlise van Tonder the last of the bench to see on-field action, when she subbed starting goalkeeper Aphiwe Dimba in the 15th minute.
But the pressure was all on the home side from the opening quarter, with five penalty corner decisions going the way of France, with the one…
