The Blitzboks set up an LA Sevens quarter-final clash against Fiji despite two Pool B defeats on day one of the tournament.

South Africa lost to Ireland (14-5) and Uruguay (10-5), after labouring to a 12-0 win against Canada in their opening match, and scraped into the cup knockout stages on points difference.

Speedster Shilton van Wyk and playmaker Ronald Brown scored for the Blitzboks against Ireland and Uruguay, respectively, after Ricardo Duarttee and Christie Grobbelaar crossed the whitewash in the victory over the Canucks.

The Blitzboks are scheduled to play the Fijians, who advanced to the last eight unbeaten in Pool C, in the second quarter-final at 20:45.

Also read: Blitzboks wrestle opening LA win

For assistant coach Philip Snyman there was little to celebrate after a lethargic display by the South Africans, but he believes they do have the opportunity to bounce back against Fiji.

“The conditions apart, we did not play well. We did fairly well in our game against Canada, but against Uruguay we were really poor at the breakdown and protecting our ball,” he said.

“We were too slow to the breakdown and gave possession away unnecessarily.”

He added: “Against Ireland, we had numerous opportunities to put them under pressure and get points, but we did not use them. We kicked possession away with players in good positions and at other times just needed to play the overlap, but did not do so.

“We are in the top eight yes, but we cannot expect other results going our way and then be happy about it. We want to have our fate in our own hands. We have that now, so will go back, recover and come back stronger.”

Fine footwork 😮

The Uruguayans are in full flow!#LA7s | #HSBC7s pic.twitter.com/NZr1QaJB1w

— HSBC SVNS (@SVNSSeries) February 26, 2023