A late attempt by Zain Davids in opposition to Argentina ensured that the Springbok Sevens group completed the opening day of the HSBC New Zealand Sevens in Hamilton unbeaten as they progressed to the quarter-finals with three wins on Saturday.
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The South Africans edged Argentina 17-14 because of Davids’ late profitable attempt to set them up for a quarter-final conflict with France at 23:58 on Saturday (SA time).
Earlier on the primary day, Shilton van Wyk’s hat-trick steered the Blitzboks to a 34-5 victory over Canada in their pool opening conflict.
However, they needed to work very onerous for his or her wins over an bettering Spain and the harmful Argentine outfit.
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Spain made the Springbok Sevens group sweat for a 19-12 win as Shaun Williams’ transformed attempt in the end proved the distinction between the edges after the Spanish staged a powerful comeback from their 7-0 half-time deficit.
Blitzboks happy with 3 wins from 3 matches
The hard-fought win then arrange a decisive Pool D assembly with Argentina, who earlier additionally managed to beat Spain and Canada in their opening fixtures.
Philip Snyman, the Blitzboks’ assistant coach, mentioned that though they have been pleased with the three wins, they know they’ve some enhancements to make in the event that they need to achieve success in the playoffs.
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“We are pleased with the three wins, but we left a few opportunities out there on the pitch,” mentioned Snyman.
“We will review the performances and pinpoint where we have to improve and hopefully we can do even better on the second day.”
Snyman recommended Spain for his or her preventing efficiency in the second encounter: “They counter-rucked us and we were not happy with our physicality. Our defence must also improve as we need to put shoulders on bodies and get the attackers onto the ground.”
The South Africans additionally needed to dig deep to outplay Argentina in their closing match of the day. The South Americans took the early lead with a attempt in the second minute, however tries from Dalvon Blood and Christie Grobbelaar edged the Blitzboks forward on the break by 12-7.
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Luciano Gonzalez’s attempt shortly after halftime noticed Argentina regain the lead and the South Americans fought onerous till Zain Davids went over for the late winner to grab a dramatic victory.
“They are a quality side and I think we were to lucky win,” mentioned Snyman.
“Our tactic was to starve them of possession, however that didn’t go in response to plan as a result of we gave away an excessive amount of possession, we had various unfastened passes and a few missed tackles.
“But to put Argentina away despite so many errors showed the character of the players, and in the end we were pleased with the win.”
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The Springbok Sevens now face France late on Saturday in one of many 4 quarter-finals and Snyman mentioned the Blitzboks know precisely what to anticipate.
“The opposition will be even stronger and the opportunities much less, so we would need to keep ball in hand, muscle up and grab our attacking opportunities.”
The winner of the Blitzboks v France quarter-final will play the winner of the Fiji v Argentina match in the semi-finals at 03:48 (SA time) on Sunday.
The Cup closing is scheduled for 08:56 (SA time) on Sunday.
SCORERS:
Springbok Sevens 34 (19) Canada 5 (5)
Blitzboks – Tries: Shilton van Wyk (3), Selvyn Davids, Christie Grobbelaar, Shaun Williams. Conversions: Ricardo Duarttee (2)
Canada – Try: Phil Berna
Springbok Sevens 19 (7) Spain 12 (0)
Blitzboks – Tries: Dalvon Blood, Selvyn Davids, Shaun Williams. Conversions: Ricardo Duarttee (2)
Spain – Tries: Eduardo Lopez, Francisco Soriano. Conversion: Francisco Cosculluela
Springbok Sevens 17 (12) Argentina 14 (7)
Blitzboks – Tries: Dalvon Blood, Christie Grobbelaar, Zain Davids. Conversion: Ricardo Duarttee
Argentina – Tries: Rodrigo Isgro, Luciano Gonzalez. Conversions: Santiago Vera Feld (2)
Cup quarter-finals (SA occasions):
Saturday, 21 January
South Africa v France – 23:58
Sunday, 22 January
Fiji v Argentina – 00:20
USA v Australia – 00:42
New Zealand v Ireland – 01:04
