Blitzboks ring in new era with a win

WRAP: The Blitzboks, under the tutelage of new coaches Sandile Ngcobo and Philip Snyman, rang in their new era with a strong 21-0 win over Uruguay in their Pool B encounter of the Hong Kong Sevens on Friday.

Two second-half tries to add to one in the first sealed the victory for the South Africans as Selvyn Davids, Shilton van Wyk and Ronald Brown were all on song as they crossed the whitewash.

Brown's conversions made sure the team collected all available points from their tries. Brown could have had one too had he not knocked the ball on after being the first to react to a penalty awarded to the Blitzboks.

Samoa caused a seismic upset on the opening day when they thrashed perennial contenders New Zealand 24-0.

There was to be no shock in the final match of Day One, however, with Hong Kong soundly beaten 43-0 by Australia. The hosts were hopelessly outmatched in their first outing on the main Series, where they are a guest team this weekend.

Ireland and Argentina set the tone early in the day with two thumping wins in pool D.

In their first Series appearance in Hong Kong, two tries from Jordan Conroy and one from Jack Kelly helped Ireland to a 28-12 win over Kenya in Friday’s first game.

Argentina then ran in six tries in a 36-0 thrashing of Canada in the second match at Hong Kong Stadium.

Kenya scored the first try of the tournament, with Billy Odhiambo crossing in the left corner within the first couple of minutes after a great run from Herman Humwa splintered Ireland’s defence. But in the end the Kenyans handed the Irish a 28-12 victory.

Day 1 Results

Ireland 28 - 12 Kenya

Argentina 36 - 0 Canada

USA 15 - 14 Spain

Fiji 59 - 12 Japan

France 34 - 0 Great Britain

South Africa 21 - 0 Uruguay

New Zealand 0 - 24 Samoa

Australia 43 - 0 Hong Kong