JERSEY’S bid to reach the knockout stages of the touch World Cup ended on Saturday, when they went down to hosts South Africa.

Playing in the mixed category Jersey boosted their chances with a good display in a 12-1 defeat against Australia and a thumping 14-1 win over Switzerland.

But, as expected, that left them needing a victory over South Africa to pip England for fourth spot in the group table.

That proved beyond the Collins Stewart squad in a 10-1 defeat in Stellenbosch, but once again their performances against one of the Southern Hemisphere’s big three was encouraging.

Said Collins Stewart team manager Morag Obarska, shorn of her injured top player Dan McDowall for all but a few minutes of the tournament: ‘We’ve played well against the Southern Hemisphere sides, but the points dropped against England were disappointing and that prevented us reaching the semi-final stages.

In yesterday’s semi-finals New Zealand destroyed England 18-0, while Australia knocked out South Africa 13-2.

New Zealand went on to win the final 6-4.