Blitzboks Bag Bronze at Sevens Rugby World Cup, After Shock Defeat

The Blitzboks slumped to a shock 29-7 semi-final defeat against England at the Sevens World Cup in San Francisco on Sunday, and went on to win bronze, writes MARIETTE ADAMS.

This was not the Blitzboks’ finest performance. They were outplayed by England, who controlled possession excellently, won the breakdown battle and were more composed in defence.

The Blitzboks were left to fight for the bronze medal against Fiji later where they bounced back to win 24-19 and bronze while England went down 33-12 to New Zealand in the final.

In the semi-final against England Selvyn Davids ensured that the Blitzboks got off to a blistering start when he hit a gaping hole in midfield to score a self-converted try.

But then South Africa switched off and England pounced. Harry Glover and captain Tom Mitchell scored two well-worked tries as England took a 10-7 lead. Mitchell’s effort, in particular, should have sounded warning bells for the Blitzboks, as it came off a restart win – an aspect the South Africans take great pride in.

The Blitzboks’ lack of intensity was again highlighted when an attack was smothered by sloppy work at the breakdown. Justin Geduld was the first man in, but somehow the ball squirted out on England’s side and Ruaridh McConnochie sprinted through the heart of South Africa’s defence for their third.

Trailing 17-7 at the start of the second half, you’d have expected the Blitzboks to launch a comeback. Unfortunately, none was forthcoming as two mistakes by South Africa led to two more tries for England.

The suddenly inability to compete at the breakdown resulted in turnover possession for England and from there Olly Lindsay-Hague put his foot down and scored at the other end.

The last try came when the Blitzboks won a lineout against the throw, but failed to exit from behind the tryline. In possession close to the line, England simply shifted the ball to the far right where Dan Norton happily took the final pass for an easy run-in.

Meanwhile, the Blitzboks’ poise, accuracy and execution were back during the third-place playoff as they beat Fiji 24-19 to clinch bronze.

South Africa led 17-7 at the midway mark before Siviwe Soyizwapi dotted down early in the second half for a 24-7 advantage.

Fiji finished with a flourish thanks to tries from Toulon duo Semi Radradra and Josua Tuisova, but South Africa had done just enough to hold on for the win.