Monalisa Freitas Hat-Trick Sinks Mary Zulu’s SA Women ‘A’ Side in Sao Paulo
The South Africa Women’s ‘A’ side faltered badly in the second half of the final match of their tour to slump to a 29-19 defeat against Brazil’s Test side, at the Estádio Nicolau Alayon in Sao Paulo, Brazil on Sunday 30 August 2026.
Leading 19-5 after a controlled first half of rugby, the South Africans, who fielded a very young side, looked set to overturn the 34-12 defeat to the same opponents on Monday 24 August, but completely lost the plot in the second half, conceding 24 unanswered points to go down in disappointing fashion.
What started really well for the visitors disappeared in the second half as Brazil, known as the Yaras, changed tack and started rumbling up through the forwards, a tactic that proved decisive as South Africa’s defence could not cope with that, conceding two yellow cards in the process.
After the kick-off was delayed due to inclement weather, Brazil started best and enjoyed most of the play in the opening minutes, with South Africa not doing themselves any favours in conceding a number of breakdown penalties.
Five minutes in, Brazil No 8 Milena Mariano broke wide from a scrum and offloaded to wing Geovanna Pereira, who scored in the corner for a 5-0 lead.
SA inside centre Lilitha Vakalisa then kickstarted a memorable 30 minutes for the visitors by scoring a great try from a lineout, with a strong direct run wrong-footing the home defence. The conversion by Mary Zulu was good and SA Women ‘A’ led 7-5.
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Wing Isabella Nel then scored an even better try, but only because it was a team effort. The South Africans stole a Brazil lineout, took the ball through two phases with the forwards and then moved it to the backs where crisp passing found Nel in full flight as she raced away for a try from 50m out. Zulu converted from a tight angle for a 14-5 lead.
Brazil came back well, but the South Africans’ defensive efforts were on song as they held up a Brazilian attacker over the line and could escape with a goal-line dropout.
With the Brazil attack calmed down, it was the visitors who worked their way up the field, with Nel scoring her second try.
A couple of penalties in the Brazil half handed South Africa good field position and from another quick penalty advantage, the ball was moved wide and Nel found herself in enough space to run in.
The lead was 19-5 and at the same time, the rain started coming down heavily, affecting the handling of both sides.
That also worked in South Africa’s favour, as their scrum was dominant and earned them more penalties, but twice, while going for the attacking lineout, hooker Karabo Lebotsa missed her jumper and the attack came to nothing.
The second half did not deliver the same frantic action early on, with both sides again guilty of handling errors when in possession. From a couple of those, the South Africans looked to counter, but sloppy handling didn’t help their cause, with Anitha Fazi, who moved to scrumhalf for this match, struggling to get the wet ball away from the base.
With that, the SA Women ‘A’ side were slowly losing the grip they had on the game, with Brazil starting to get more hands on the ball and keeping it amongst their forwards.
They attacked with more confidence and after some maul attacks by the pack, flanker Monalisa Freitas scored to give the home crowd something to smile about. At 19-10 and with 15 minutes to play, the Yaras still had it all to do though.
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They did that by not overcomplicating things, sticking with maul attacks and Freitas crashed over for a second try. The conversion was good and suddenly it was a two-point game at 19-17.
Carmelita Malone was yellow carded and a third try to Freitas after some very average defence near their own line by South Africa saw the hosts take the lead at 24-19.
Brazil had all the momentum and when Yonda Nokwe was also yellow carded soon after coming off the bench, the writing was on the wall, with another try at the death confirming the win for the home side.
The Brazil vs. SA Women ‘A’ Tour from 24 to 30 August 2026 at the Estádio Nicolau Alayon, Sao Paulo, Brazil
Mon 24 Aug: Brazil 34 (24) – 12 (12) SA Women ‘A’
Sun 30 Aug: Brazil 29 (5) -19 (19) SA Women ‘A’
Brazil – Tries: Geovanna Pereira, Monalisa Freitas (3), Eshyllen Coimbra
Conversions: Fernanda Tenório, Raquel Kochhann
SA Women ‘A’ – Tries: Lilitha Vakalisa, Isabella Nel (2)
Conversions: Mary Zulu (2)
Brazil
1 Emi Pereira
2 Patricia Lima
3 Giovana Mamede
4 Mariana Neves
5 Adriana Felix
6 Monalisa Freitas
7 Dayana Dakar
8 Milena Mariano
9 Leila Silva
10 Raquel Kochhann (Captain)
11 Thalita Costa
12 Mariana Nicolau
13 Andressa Alves
14 Geovanna Pereira
15 Fernanda Tenório
Replacements
16 Samara Vergara
17 Juliana Silva
18 Alessandra Costa
19 Sofia Gondim
20 Marina Fioravanti
21 Leticia Pinheiro
22 Giovanna Barth
23 Giovanna Braz
24 Eshyllen Coimbra
25 Gisele Gomes
26 Isabella Noronha
SA Women ‘A’
1 Anuschka Ekron
2 Karabo Lebotsa
3 Anothando Khatshwa
4 Zethu Gcaza
5 Abigail Smit
6 Jada Davids
7 Avela Gwala
8 Emihle Mayitshe
9 Anitha Fazi
10 Mary Zulu (C aptain)
11 Isabella Nel
12 Lilitha Vakalisa
13 Shaunique Alexander
14 Thobile Msizazwe
15 Hayley Hardneck
Replacements
16 Luchell Hanekom
17 Iviwe Jonas
18 Vanessa Gabadi
19 Kaylee Daniels
20 Yonelisa Plaatjies
21 Yonda Nokwe
22 Carmelita Malone
23 Insaaf Levy
24 Sinothile Bhengu
25 Courtney Hickson
Travelling Management
Bafana Nhleko (Head Coach)
Nandipa Manjezi (Team Manager)
Bongiwe Nhleko (Assistant Coach)
Obakeng Molopyane (Athletic Performance Coach)
Dr Lizanne Pieterse (Team Doctor)
Reagan Cele (Physiotherapist)
Original Copy: SA Rugby Communications, with editing by gsport
Main Photo Caption: The SA Women ‘A’ side led 19-5 at halftime before going down 29-19 to Brazil in the final match of their tour, at the Estádio Nicolau Alayon in Sao Paulo, Brazil on Sunday 30 August 2026. Photo: SA Rugby / Gallo Images
Crédito: Link de origem