South Africa will face Fiji in the quarter-finals after narrowly losing to them in their final pool game.
The Blitzboks’ Sebastiaan Jobb was able to give the South African side hope with a late try in their last pool game against Fiji, but it was not to be. Picture: David van der Sandt/Gallo Images
The Blitzboks finished third in their pool after two defeats, but other results went their way, allowing them to progress to the Bordeaux Sevens World Championship quarter-finals.
They will face Fiji in the quarter-finals at 3.52pm on Saturday after losing their final pool game 15-12 to the same side.
South Africa finished behind Fiji and Great Britain in pool A, the latter shocking the Blitzboks with a 19-14 upset.
The Blitzboks’ 26-5 win over Kenya was their only lifeline as they finished the pool with five points and +13 points difference.
In the end, New Zealand beating Argentina allowed South Africa to end as the second-best third-place team.
The Blitzboks began the tournament as hot favourites, leading the World Championship with 38 points, four more than Argentina and eight more than Australia, following a title win in Hong Kong and a runner-up finish in Spain.
Blitzboks fall to Fiji
The SA team got off to the worst start in their last pool game when Siviwe Soyizwapi made contact with a Fijian player off the ball, earning a yellow card. Fiji’s Apete Narogo scored following a tap-and-go.
The South Africans responded when a Tristan Leyds offload found Shilton van Wyk, who dashed through a gap to score. Ricardo Duarttee’s conversion gave them a 7-5 lead in the sixth minute.
However, George Bose retook the lead for Fiji when he finished a good team move initiated by a powerful Filipe Sauturaga run. Terio Veilawa missed his second conversion to leave the score 10-7 to Fiji at the break.
Viwa Naduvalo scored Fiji’s third try from an overlap early in the second half. He dashed from his own 22 all the way to the Blitzboks’ try line. Veilawa again failed to convert.
A yellow card presented to Fiji’s Isaia Rugu gave the Blitzboks hope in the final two minutes. Sebastiaan Jobb was able to score on the sideline but Duarttee missed the conversion.
The Blitzboks came close near the end but Fiji performed a massive turnover on their 5m line to seal the win.
Scorers
Blitzboks: Tries -Shilton van Wyk, Sebastiaan Jobb. Conversions – Ricardo Duarttee 1/2.
Fiji: Tries – Apete Narogo, George Bose, Viwa Naduvalo. Conversions – Terio Veilawa 0/3.
