New Zealand ruined the party by beating the Blitzboks 19-12 in the Cape Town Sevens semifinal on Sunday to hand the reigning World Series champions their first defeat of the year. In the final the Kiwis were far too slick for Argentina, scoring six tries to down the South Americans 38-14. Condemned to the third/fourth play-off, the South Africans beat Canada 19-17 to take bronze. In the semifinal, a late try by Joe Webber‚ their third of the match‚ was enough to see the Kiwis over the line in a contest where they also survived a yellow card against Joe Ravouvou. The Blitzboks won the season’s opening tournament in Dubai last week‚ beating New Zealand 24-12 in that final‚ and had won 10 matches since the start of the new season. But the Kiwis gained the best possible revenge by beating SA on their home turf. It was a remarkable comeback for the inexperienced New Zealand team, which lost 22-0 to the US in the pool phase on day one. Argentina beat Canada 14-12 in the other semi, leavin...
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