The Springbok Sevens side has qualified for the HSBC SVNS Cape Town quarter-finals despite losing to Ireland in their final pool match at the Cape Town Stadium on Saturday, 9 December.
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The Blitzboks didn’t deliver a perfect performance in any of their games and were taught a lesson in patience against Ireland, but they did what was needed to progress and showed the necessary composure at crucial times in their first two matches.
Apart from short spells against USA and Ireland, their defence was spot-on and their attack also asked questions of their opposition, although their options could have been better.
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South Africa will now face Australia in the quarter-final, at 11:18 on Sunday.
The other quarter-finals are Argentina v Canada (10:34), Ireland v New Zealand (10:56) and Fiji v France (11:40).
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In their opening game, Quewin Nortje scored twice in the Blitzboks’ 19-5 victory over Great Britain.
The windy conditions didn’t seem to bother the Blitzboks, although they would be first to admit that they could have been a bit sharper with ball in hand.
Nortje scored early from a sniping blindside break from the base of a ruck, but Great Britain hit back on the stroke of halftime through Harry Glover.
Geduld then restored the Blitzboks’ lead shortly after the break, converting his own try to make it 12-5.
Three minutes later, Nortje was at it again, his second try all but sealing the deal for the host nation as Brown added the extras.
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The Blitzboks then won their second pool game against the USA by 26-14.
The South Africans had a great first half and kept the USA scoreless, while Ryan Oosthuizen and Rosko Specman scored converted tries that had the crowd on their feet.
However, a yellow card early in the second half to Justin Geduld opened the door for the Americans, who scored twice in two minutes through Lucas Lacamp to level the scores at 14-14.
With a number of replacements taking the field, the Blitzboks steadied the ship and late tries by Impi Visser and Ronald Brown sealed the deal.
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It wasn’t to be against Ireland in the last match of the day though, with the visitors clinching a nail-biter by 14-12 as both teams scored two tries apiece.
Specman got the first for the Blitzboks, but two tries late in the first half gave Ireland a 14-5 lead at the break.
Despite enjoying territorial advantage for most of the second half, the Blitzboks could only cross the Irish tryline when Dewald Human scored with less than a minute to go.
Ireland controlled the restart and booted the ball into touch to claim top spot in Pool A.
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SPRINGBOK SEVENS RESULTS – DAY 1
Springbok Sevens 19 Great Britain 5
Springbok Sevens – Tries: Quewin Nortje (2), Justin Geduld. Conversions: Geduld, Ronald Brown
Great Britain – Try: Harry Glover
Springbok Sevens 24 USA 14
Springbok Sevens – Tries: Ryan Oosthuizen, Rosko Specman, Impi Visser, Ronald Brown. Conversions: Justin Geduld (2), Brown
USA – Tries: Lucas Lacamp (2). Conversions: Madison Hughes (2)
Springbok Sevens 12 Ireland 14
Springbok Sevens – Tries: Rosko Specman, Dewald Human. Conversion: Human
Ireland – Tries: Gavin Mullan (2). Conversions: Hugo Lennox (2)
