Blitzboks crash out of Hong Kong Sevens
NEWS: The Blizboks crashed out of the Hong Kong Sevens when they were defeated 12-7 by Fiji in the quarter-final on Sunday.
Fiji led 12-0 at the break, and the second half saw a much improved performance by South Africa.
The Blitzboks’ curse in Hong Kong continued as they have never won the tournament and only made the final once in all the years, but their weekend performance was not one to be proud of, as they lost three of their four games and look incredibly brittle
Captain Soviwe Soyizwapi scored the only try of the second stanza and looked set to get another in injury time before being ruled to have played the ball on the ground.
They will now take on Argentina in the fifth place semi-final on Sunday.
The Fijians had a slight upper hand on the floor, turning over South African possession three times, but with scant reward. Their first try, scored by Joseva Talacolo was a gift from the Blitzboks, who threw an errand pass when on attack.
From the restart, Fiji regained possession and started another attack which saw Jeremaia Matana dotting down under the poles, with Iowane Teba converting for a 12-0 lead at the break.
The second half saw a change in momentum as the Blitzboks took the game to Fiji. They had a number of strong runs, one which handed Soyizwapi a try.
This score cut the lead to five with three minutes to play.
South Africa pressed hard and in the final play of the game looked dangerous on attack, but was pinged at the breakdown and Fiji survived to score a 7th straight win over their opponents at this venue.
On Saturday, the Blitzboks had lost to both Great Britain and France in their pool matches and were incredibly fortunate to progress through to the quarter-finals on points difference.
Other results
New Zealand 43 - 0 Kenya
Spain 19 - 14 Uruguay
Canada 19 - 17 Hong Kong
Great Britian 29 - 0 Japan
Samoa 19 - 14 Argentina
Fiji 12 - 7 South Africa
Ireland 19 - 26 Australia
France 28 - 14 USA
Kenya 7 - 10 Uruguay
Hong Kong 17 - 24 Japan
New Zealand 24 - 7 Spain