Blitzboks down Fiji, advance to Cup quarter-finals in Cape Town

The Blitzboks will play in the Cup quarter-finals of the Cape Town World Rugby Sevens Series after downing Fiji 17-7 in their second pool game at the Cape Town Stadium on Saturday morning.

While the Blitzboks got off to a slow start and conceded an early converted try to Fiji, they dominated the rest of the match and didn’t allow the Fijians to score again.

Dubai stars Van Wyk, Duarttee

Shilton van Wyk, who was so impressive in thee Blitzboks’ win in Dubai last weekend, got the ball rolling for the South Africans when he kicked the ball into space behind the Fiji defence, gathered it and scored his team’s first try.

A minute later, Muller du Plessis crossed the tryline after some quick thinking by another Blitzboks rookie and star of the Dubai tournament, Ricardo Duarttee, whose quick-tap penalty flummoxed the Fijians.

The Blitzboks got the second half underway 12-7 up and while the men from Fiji remained on the back foot, mainly due to their ill-discipline and giving away plenty of penalties, the hosts in Cape Town battled to break down their defences.

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Finally, towards the end of the second period, JC Pretorius powered through three Fijians to score a third try for the Blitzboks, who won 17-7.

This followed their opening day win against Canada on Friday. They will face France in their last pool game later Saturday (5pm) to determine who between the two finishes first and second in the pool.