The SA team have enjoyed a terrific season and now add the Sevens World Championship to the Sevens World Series title they won earlier this year.
The Blitzboks, seen here after winning the Sevens World Series title in New York in March, have now earned the Sevens World Championship title. Picture: David van der Sandt/Gallo Images
South Africa won the World Sevens Championship after beating Fiji 14-12 in their France Sevens quarter-final at the Stadium de Bordeaux on Saturday afternoon.
It was an incredibly tight clash and was an impressive comeback from the Blitzboks, after they had lost two pool games, against Great Britain (19-14) on Friday and against Fiji (15-12) on Saturday morning, but their 26-5 win over Kenya on Friday night was enough to sneak them into the quarters.
That ended up proving massively important, as their comeback win over Fiji then ensured they would secure the Sevens Championship title, after their closest challengers Argentina didn’t make the quarterfinals, while the other two teams in the mix, Australia and Fiji, both fell in the last eight.
The Blitzboks thus added the Championship title to the World Sevens Series title they secured earlier this year, after they won series events in Cape Town, Perth, Vancouver and New York.
“It’s just an amazing feeling. We are just so thankful and grateful for this opportunity. Massive credit to the boys for their hard work this whole season and everyone that contributed, like the coaches, management back home, and everyone that’s here,” said captain Impi Visser after the Fiji match.
“Everyone that has stood behind us and backed us all the way, thank you for all of your support, it means a lot to us.”
In the Sevens Championship the Blitzboks won in Hong Kong and finished as runners-up last week in Spain, and now have a chance to win the title in France to cap off an amazing season.
They face hosts France in the tournament semifinals on Sunday afternoon (kick-off 1.16pm) for a place in the final later in the day.
Fighting back against Fiji
In the match against Fiji the Blitzboks got off to a poor start after Ryan Oosthuizen committed two quick penalties, the second cynical, that earned him a yellow card in the first minute.
Fiji made them pay as they ran in two tries during the two minutes that he was off, with a brilliant individual score from Vuiviwa Naduvalo, as he burst through two tacklers and then turned Tristan Leyds inside out on his way to the unconverted score.
The second try came from the Blitzboks running out of defenders, with them stretched allowing Kavekini Tanivanuakula to hit a gap to go in, which gave them a 12-0 lead in the third minute.
Back to their full complement the Blitzboks finally enjoyed a good spell of possession, but Fiji produced some top defence to keep them out, but after the play continued past the halftime hooter, Naduvalo was yellow carded for the deliberate knock down.
That allowed the Blitzboks to take advantage of the extra man as they attacked from a scrum in Fiji’s 22m, with Tristan Leyds sending a cross kick for Sebastiaan Jobb to catch and score, with Ricardo Duarttee slotting the conversion from the sideline to make it 12-7 at the break.
At the start of the second half, still with a man extra, the Blitzboks made sure to take advantage as they stretched Fiji and broke up the touchline, before Jobb received the ball on the inside and raced away to score under the posts, with Duarttee giving them the lead with the conversion.
The rest of the match became a pretty tetchy affair as both teams got frustrated, with the Blitzboks eventually seeing out a tight win.
Scorers
Blitzboks: Tries – Sebastiaan Jobb (2); Conversions – Ricardo Duarttee (2)
Fiji: Tries – Vuiviwa Naduvalo, Kavekini Tanivanuakula; Conversion – Terio Veilawa
