Blitzboks into Paris quarters with big win over Japan

The Blitzboks advanced to the quarterfinals of the Sevens tournament at the Paris Olympics after they overwhelmed Japan 49-5 in their final pool match on Thursday.

Knowing they had to win by 21 points or more the South Africans made light work of their opponents making a fast start to put Japan firmly on the back foot.

The Blitzboks who could only manage to score a try in each of their defeats to Ireland and New Zealand on Wednesday went into overdrive with strong performances from Zain Davids, Ryan Oosthuizen and Shilton van Wyk.

In pursuit of a healthy winning margin, the Blitzboks played with the required urgency from the outset.

Japan who conceded 40 points against both New Zealand and Ireland in their opening two matches seemed helpless as the men in green ran in their fourth try.

The Blitzboks were 28-0 up by the break with Ryan Oosthuizen being gifted his second try by Selvyn Davids.

Japan saw more of the ball in the second half but they were initially kept at arm's length by a well-organised defence. They eventually were rewarded but their hopes were well and truly dashed when Selvyn Davids collected an errant pass to sprint half the length of the field. Soon after Van Wyk ran in his second to complete the rout.

Earlier, hosts France were beaten 19-12 by Fiji. The double gold medallists progressed to the knock-out stages with a blemish-free record across their first three matches, while France who drew with the US on Wednesday finished second in the pool.