South African Fans go Crazy as Blitzboks Blitz to 2nd Successive Final in Cape Town
South African rugby fans went crazy as Blitzboks qualified for their second successive Cape Town Sevens Cup Final after two impressive victories in their play-off matches on Sunday, where they will face England. Springbok Sevens’ Twitter page described the atmosphere from the stadium as “electric” and said “the noise levels are something else!!!” The South Africans won 33-0 […]
South African rugby fans went crazy as Blitzboks qualified for their second successive Cape Town Sevens Cup Final after two impressive victories in their play-off matches on Sunday, where they will face England.
Springbok Sevens’ Twitter page described the atmosphere from the stadium as “electric” and said “the noise levels are something else!!!”
The South Africans won 33-0 against Wales in the quarter-finals, outscoring the Welsh by five tries to nil, but it was their rock-solid defence that set the tone for this victory, their 41st in 42 clashes on the World Rugby Sevens Series..
Playing off scraps for most of the first half, the Blitzboks made their opportunities count as Seabelo Senatla, Cecil Afrika and Chris Dry crossed for tries before the break, with South Africa taking a 19-0 lead into the second half.
Ruhan Nel’s try, after a sublime run by Werner Kok, made it 26-0 to the hosts and defending champions, before Rosko Specman put the final nail in the Welsh coffin when he outsprinted the defence for 60m to score in the corner.
Justin Geduld continued the Blitzboks’ fine kicking record with a touchline conversion as the game ended on 33-0.
Later on Sunday afternoon, in front of a packed stadium, the Blitzboks scored two tries to one against New Zealand to beat the Kiwis by 14-7 in the first semi-final.
Branco du Preez and Rosco Specman scored on either side of half-time, with Du Preez and Cecil Afrika adding the conversions.
In the second semi-final, England beat Scotland by 33-14 to set up a mouth-water final against the South Africans.
Earlier, New Zealand then beat Kenya by 28-7 to set up a mouth-watering semi-final between two of the most successful teams in the history of the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series when SA and the Kiwis clash at 16h34.
Both other quarter-finals were only decided in extra time as the scores were tied after 14 minutes. Scotland went through to the semis courtesy of a 24-19 win over the USA, while England shocked Fiji 31-26 in the final quarter-final.
The final will be at 19:44.
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Awesome defence by the South Africans @wernerkok1 secure a tough, tough win! @SteinhoffRugby 14-7 Well played all. pic.twitter.com/28mVkEWU4t
— Springboks (@Springboks) December 11, 2016
"Happy to be in the final, but we have not won anything yet" Coach @Neil5Powell after beating NZ in @CapeTown7s semi pic.twitter.com/Hp407kokhg
— Springbok Sevens (@Blitzboks) December 11, 2016
Not the way it was supposed to end, but good recovery champ! @kylegbrown pic.twitter.com/ckstnhqwa7
— Springbok Sevens (@Blitzboks) December 11, 2016