The Blitzboks were beaten by Fiji in the Perth Sevens quarterfinals. Picture: Blitzboks/X
The Blitzboks were knocked out of the Perth Sevens title race after a narrow defeat to Fiji in the cup quarter-finals on Saturday.
Leading 5-0 at half time, the South Africans conceded two converted tries in the second stanza to go down 14-12 at HBF Park.
Ryan Oosthuizen opened the scoring before the break with a strong finish in the corner, before Terio Tamani pulled one back for the Fijians after the restart.
Debutant Tristan Leyds crossed the whitewash and added the extras to regain the lead for the Blitzboks, but Rere Ropate soared over under the sticks for a converted score following a yellow card for James Murphy for taking out the man in the air.
South Africa will face the USA in the fifth-placed semi-final at 9:24am on Sunday, but head coach Sandile Ngcobo will be sweating the fitness of Quewin Nortje, who was helped off the field with what looked to be a hamstring injury.
This story was first published on sarugbymag.co.za. It is republished here with permission.