WORLD RUGBY: Blitzboks comes back to finish strong at Vancouver Sevens

The Springbok Sevens squad lost 28-17 against Samoa in the Cup quarter-finals of the World Rugby Canada Sevens on Sunday, crashing out of contention for a podium finish at BC Place in Vancouver.

They bounced back with victories over France and New Zealand to finish sixth overall in the competition.

In their encounter versus Samoa, the Blitzboks, who were defending champions in Canada, never got going. They were down 21 points at halftime against Samoa, who had not beaten South Africa in their previous eight matches due to a rash of penalties, bad defense, and even worse handling.

While the Blitzboks lost Darren Adonis, Ryan Oosthuizen, and Dewald Human to injury before their match against Samoa, and Shaun Williams limped out in the second half, their supporters will be more concerned with their lack of urgency on attack.

The Blitzboks needed a clinical effort in the second half to overcome the Samoans, and although scoring three tries after the interval, they allowed a fourth, thereby sealing Samoa’s victory.

The Blitzboks bounced back in dramatic manner in their following encounter, a 5th place semifinal versus France. They scored six tries, three of which were scored by Siviwe Soyizwapi, as they defeated the European team 36-7.

After the Blitzboks appeared to find their attacking flow again, Ronald Brown started the scoring, and Soyizwapi scored two goals in rapid succession. Just before halftime, Christie Grobbelaar went inside opponents to give South Africa a 26-0 advantage.

Soyizwapi scored his third goal after a lovely feed from Brown, and James Murphy added another with a surge to the corner in the second half. Jordan Sepho scored a late try for France, but it would never be enough.

In the fifth-placed final, the South Africans defeated New Zealand 17-15 to complete the tournament on a high note.

Soon after the kick-off, New Zealand outflanked the Blitzboks defense and scored their first points. The response was quick, as Siviwe Soyizwapi recovered a stray pass and sprinted in to score thanks to an excellent defensive read by his inside backs.

Ronald Brown’s conversion gave the team a 7-5 lead.

Soyizwapi then became the villain after failing to ground the ball in time while sliding across the goal line, denying his team a key touchdown.

Instead, the All Blacks Sevens scored after Zain Davids was beaten with an in-out after the Blitzboks’ relentless push was repulsed.

New Zealand regained the lead (10-7) and extended it in the second half after the South Africans were penalized for a scrum penalty.

The All Blacks Sevens scored after a swift tap.

With less than three minutes to go, South Africa just needed two touchdowns, and it was soon down to one when JC Pretorius was worked over. James Murphy scored in the corner with a two-point deficit.

Brown’s conversion struck the crossbar, but the lead was enough to give South Africa victory over the Vancouver Sevens finalists last weekend.

SCORERS:

South Africa 17 (0), Samoa 28 (21)

South Africa – Tries: Zain Davids, Selvyn Davids, Ronald Brown. Conversion: Selvyn Davids

Samoa – Tries: Vaoasa Afa, Vaa Apelu Maliko (2), Faafoi Falaniko. Conversions: Melani Matavao (4)

South Africa 36 (26), France 5 (0)

South Africa – tries: Siviwe Soyizwapi (3), Ronald Brown, Christie Grobbelaar, James Murphy. Conversions: Ronald Brown (3)

France – try: Jordan Sepho. Conversion: Marius Domon

South Africa 17 (7), New Zealand 15 (10)

South Africa – Tries: Siviwe Soyizwapi, JC Pretorius, James Murphy. Conversion: Ronald Brown

New Zealand – tries: Caleb Tangitau, Kitiona Vai, Ngarohi McGarvey-Black