Unbeaten Blitzboks surge into Cape Town Sevens semis

The Blitzboks took revenge for last weekend’s pool defeat to the British in Dubai, although they ended up winning the desert tournament, which means Saturday’s top-eigh win was their ninth consecutive in the last fortnight.

South Africa will face Samoa in the second semi-final on Sunday at 15h46, and the first top-four clash is between New Zealand and the USA at 15h24.

The Blitzboks drew first blood when Ryan Oosthuizen scored in the fifth minute from a ruck turnover before they sent the ball wide, with the big forward racing 50m downfield for the try under the uprights.

However, Great Britain hit back after the buzzer, exploiting a couple of missed tackles with Morgan Williams’ converted try levelling the scores at the break.

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Ricardo Duarttee restored the Blitzboks’ seven point lead with a great step and acceleration to score under the posts, adding his second conversion to make it 14-7 with five minutes to go.

But like it happened in the first half, the British soon hit back, again slipping past a South African defender out wide for a converted try to Femi Sofolarin with three minutes left on the clock.

Dalvon Blood then made it 21-14 for the Blitzboks with a great try out wide – brilliantly converted by Duarttee – after JC Pretorius and later Zain Davids made good ground with strong runs.

Scorers:

Springbok Sevens 21 (7) – Tries: Ryan Oosthuizen, Ricardo Duarttee, Dalvon Blood. Conversions: Duarttee (3).

Great Britain 14 (7) – Tries: Morgan Williams, Femi Sofolarin. Conversions: Tom Emery (2)