Unbeaten Blitzboks surge into semis

The Blitzboks qualified for the semi-finals of the SVNS World Championship following a clean sweep of their Pool A rivals in Los Angeles.

Philip Snyman’s charges kicked off their campaign with a 19-10 win against France 19-10 on Saturday, before edging out Great Britain (12-7) and SVNS league winners Argentina (29-21) at Dignity Health Sports Park on day 1 of the tournament.

They next face traditional foes New Zealand, who tied on seven points with Australia but advanced due to superior points difference. Kick-off is at 12am on Monday (SA time). 

After an impressive performance against France, the SA side were on the money again against Team GB, with two tries within the first five minutes putting them into the fast lane towards victory.

First Ronald Brown kicked ahead in the opening minute of play, regathered and scored for a 7-0 lead before Shilton van Wyk chased down his own kick as well to score his 50th try in sevens.

Leading 12-0, the Blitzboks were in cruise control, but then stepped off the gas, allowing their opponents to claw their way back into the match. Freddie Roddick scored on the buzzer for a converted try, giving the UK side something of a sniff in the second half.

The second half remained scoreless, but went from one side to the other as both sides had their moments, but could not convert. Some good scrambling defence by the Blitzboks proved vital as they held out their opponents to secure their second win of the day.

In the first match, the French started very well and pressured the Blitzboks into mistakes, which led to two unanswered tries by Varian Pasquet and Simon Desert to give them a 10-point lead.

Great character to fight back

The Blitzboks knuckled down and showed great character to fight back after going down 10-0 late in the first half. Selvyn Davids’ late try before the break, from a great grubber into space, meant the teams swapped sides with France leading by 10-7.

The second half belonged to the Blitzboks, who held onto possession much better as they worked to find space, with Shilton van Wyk and Zain Davids adding their names to the score sheet.

Van Wyk circled the French defence on the right wing before Zain Davids ran the perfect angle onto a short pass into space by Ricardo Duarttee to give the Blitzboks a nine-point lead. France lost a player to the sin bin and the game finished as the South Africans showed some real grit on defence to deny their opponents a losing bonus-point.

South Africa wrapped up the opening day with a five-tries-to-three win against the Argentines – Brown, Van Wyk, Ryan Oosthuizen, Selvyn Davids and Siviwe Soyizwapi crossing the whitewash for the men in green and gold.

This story was first published on sarugbymag.co.za. It is republished here with permission.