BORDEAUX, France — The Blitzboks qualified for the knockout stage of the Bordeaux Sevens despite a 15-12 loss to Fiji in their final pool A match on Saturday, thanks to New Zealand’s victory over Argentina that saw them through as one of the two best third-placed teams.
South Africa will face Fiji again in the quarter-finals later on Saturday, giving them a chance at immediate revenge.
Fiji 15-12 Blitzboks (pool A)
The Blitzboks lost Siviwe Soyizwapi for a late hit early in the match and Fiji took advantage as Apete Narogo opened the scoring for a 5-0 lead.
Brilliant work from Tristan Leyds, who beat several Fijian defenders, got the Blitzboks straight back into the match through a try for Shilton van Wyk, which was converted by Ricardo Duarttee for a 7-5 lead.
However, Fiji hit the front just before half-time when an attack from deep led to a try for George Bose as they went into the break 10-7 up.
Fiji extended their lead early in the second half with another long-range effort as they worked space on the right for Viwa Naduvalo to score for a 15-7 lead.
The Blitzboks desperately needed something special as only a win or a loss with a bonus point would see them through to the knockouts.
Naduvalo thought he had his second of the match soon after, but the television match official ruled he lost the ball over the line, giving the Blitzboks a lifeline with two minutes left.
Fiji then lost a player for a tip tackle, giving the Blitzboks a man advantage until the end of the clash. The Blitzboks used the advantage to get Sebastiaan Jobb over the line to cut Fiji’s score to 15-12, but they simply ran out of time to get the job done.
Scorers
Blitzboks 12
Tries: Van Wyk, Jobb
Conversion: Duarttee
Fiji 15
Tries: Narogo, Bose, Naduvalo
Blitzboks 26-5 Kenya (pool A)
The Blitzboks put their defeat to Great Britain behind them as they beat their African compatriots Kenya 26-5 in their second pool A match.
The Blitzboks opened the scoring when Van Wyk sold a dummy and cruised through a gap in the Kenyan defence for an early 5-0 lead. That became 12-0 after a long period of possession when Van Wyk finished off a long-range attack from deep.
With Duarttee adding the extras, the Blitzboks took that lead into half-time.
Quewin Nortje’s blistering pace resulted in another try early in the second half as the Blitzboks remained in control at 19-0.
A second try soon followed for Nortje, while Kenya scored a consolation try through George Ooro Angeyo.
Scorers
Blitzboks 26 (12)
Tries: Van Wyk 2, Nortje 2
Conversions: Duarttee 3
Kenya 5 (0)
Try: Ooro Angeyo
Great Britain 19-14 Blitzboks (pool A)
The Blitzboks lost their opening match at the Bordeaux Sevens, going down 19-14 to Great Britain in a match that went into extra time.
Great Britain had much of the early possession, and that resulted in a try for Marcus Kershaw, which Kaleem Barreto converted for a 7-0 lead.
That became 14-0 a minute later when Darcy Graham broke a tackle to score another converted try.
The Blitzboks pulled one back just before the break as Duarttee broke from a five-metre scrum and converted his own try to cut Great Britain’s lead to 14-7 at half-time.
Duarttee’s intercept at the start of the second half saw the Blitzboks tie things up at 14-14, but they then lost Jobb to a yellow card for taking out a player in the air.
With the scores level at full time, the match went into a golden-point showdown.
The Blitzboks lost Duarttee to a tip tackle, and that’s all Great Britain needed as they used their extra man to work space for Finley Lloyd-Gilmour on the cut-back to score.
Scorers
Blitzboks 14 (7)
Tries: Duarttee 2
Conversions: Duarttee 2
Great Britain 19 (14)
Tries: Kershaw, Graham, Lloyd-Gilmour
Conversions: Barreto 2
Fixtures
Friday 5 June
South Africa 14-19 Great Britain
South Africa 26-5 Kenya
Saturday 6 June
South Africa 12-15 Fiji
South Africa v Fiji (quarter-final, time TBC)
Sevens World Championship standings
- South Africa – 38 points
- Argentina – 34
- Australia – 30
- Fiji – 26
- Spain – 26
- New Zealand – 26
- France – 14
- Kenya – 14
Blitzboks squad for Bordeaux
Ryan Oosthuizen – 64 tournaments, 290 points (58 tries)
Impi Visser (captain) – 52 tournaments, 245 points (49 tries)
Zain Davids – 59 tournaments, 255 points (51 tries)
Ricardo Duarttee – 24 tournaments, 389 points (26 tries, 127 conversions, one penalty goal)
Selvyn Davids – 48 tournaments, 793 points (107 tries, 129 conversions, one penalty goal)
Dewald Human – 33 tournaments, 330 points (30 tries, 90 conversions)
Siviwe Soyizwapi – 66 tournaments, 805 points (161 tries)
Shilton van Wyk – 34 tournaments, 385 points (77 tries)
Quewin Nortje – 14 tournaments, 170 points (34 tries)
Donavan Don – 15 tournaments, 123 points (23 tries, four conversions)
Sebastiaan Jobb – 10 tournaments, 100 points (20 tries)
David Brits – 16 tournaments, 60 points (12 tries)
Tristan Leyds – 19 tournaments, 249 points (31 tries, 47 conversions)
Jayden Nell – three tournaments, five points (one try)
