Blitzboks finish ninth in Singapore after Australia win

The Springbok Sevens team finished ninth at the HSBC SVNS Singapore after two victories on Sunday morning, first by two points against the US before finishing the tournament against Australia.

The Blitzboks finished with three victories in their four games, which included a win over world series leaders Argentina on Saturday, but unfortunately a big defeat in their pool opener against Great Britain, where they lost Sebastiaan Jobb to an early red card, meant the South Africans were condemned to the minor placings.

They showed a lot of character in their remaining matches to finish the tournament with their heads held high though, with the wins over Argentina and Australia especially impressive.

First up on Sunday morning, first-half converted tries by Zander Reynders and Ricardo Duarttee were enough to stop the US 14-12 in their ninth-place semifinal, though the Blitzboks had to dig deep at the end to keep the Americans out.

Duarttee did the damage, not only with his try that he converted himself, but also by forcing a breakdown penalty at the death, a 5m from the South African try line.

The US were first to score after the Blitzboks were penalised in their own half from the kickoff, but Reynders pounced a few minutes later after a good spell of attack by the South Africans, with Tristan Leyds converting from wide out.

Duarttee then added his name to the scoresheet shortly before the break, cleverly breaking around the blind side from an attacking ruck, before adding to extras to give the Blitzboks a 14-5 lead at the end of the first-half.

The US’s Lucas Lacamp scored and converted with three minutes left as the South Africans gave away a string of penalties, but the Blitzboks’ defence held firm as they ran out the clock.

Against the Aussies, Leyds scored twice inside the first five minutes, and converted both, to give the Blitzboks a handy 14-0 lead as they again showed great patience on attack and kept the mistakes to a minimum.

Siviwe Soyizwapi was shown a yellow card for a high tackle, but the Blitzboks kept the Aussies at bay and when “Shakes” returned from the sin bin, he was waiting on the left-wing to score their third try from a brilliant turnover on the Australian try line.

When Selvyn Davids waltzed through for the Blitzboks' fourth try midway through the second half, with Duarttee converting, the writing was on the wall.

Australia pulled one back with just under three minutes to go, but the Blitzboks again took control of the clash. David Brits was denied in the corner at the death before Duarttee won another ruck penalty to seal the deal.

SA Rugby