On Monday morning, the Junior Proteas had to beat Ireland in order to advance to the knockout phase of the competition.

South Africa beat Ireland 1-0 at the North West University after the player of the match, Jean-Leigh du Toit, hit the backboard from a penalty corner on the stroke of half time.

England are also through to the last eight from Pool B after beating both South Africa and Ireland over the weekend.

All three teams were meant to play a third game in the group, however, due to the Ukraine having withdrawn from the World Cup, each team only got to play twice ahead of the knockout round.

The South African coach, Lenise Marais, said there where a few aspects of her team’s performance that she was pleased with.

“Creating opportunities, scoring short-corner goals and bringing the ball forward was really something good for us today.”

South Africa will have a difficult outing on Friday in the quarter-finals when they face the Netherlands. The Dutch in their turn had little trouble in topping Pool A of the World Cup.

The former South African player, Marais, said they will have to switch on for the game against the Dutch.

“We will watch a few videos and we will come and practice a few times to keep the bodies ticking over. It's about being mentally and physically present, so it's just tackling it step-by-step as we move forward.”

Friday’s quarter-final between South Africa and the Netherlands at the North West University will get underway at 09:00.

Morgan Piek/OFM Sport