The Blitzboks erased an early deficit to defeat the New Zealand Sevens side 19-14 at the Cape Town Sevens on Saturday.
Like they did against Fiji earlier, the Springbok Sevens didn’t enjoy the best of starts. But they showed immense character and determination to fight back en route to an important victory.
The Blitzboks’ final pool match is against Great Britain at 7:44pm (SA time).
FIRST HALF RECAP: NEW ZEALAND
New Zealand bossed the opening exchanges in terms of possession and territory, while South Africa had a couple of defensive and disciplinary lapses. All these factors combined led to the Kiwis scoring the first try of the match for an early seven-point lead.
In that time, the Blitzboks conceded two yellow cards, one to Impi Visser for a dangerous tackle and another to Shilton van Wyk for a deliberate slap down. But even with a man down disadvantage, the Blitzboks’ defence came in clutch.
With New Zealand probing inside the 22, the South Africans came up with a big play to stop their rivals from touching down. That defensive set ensured the Blitzboks went into the break trailing only by 7-0.
SECOND HALF RECAP: BLITZBOKS TURN ON THE MAGIC
The second stanza was a different story altogether. It was as if South Africa flipped a switch to go from defence mood into all-out attack mode.
First they went coast to coast for a Donovan Don try, which Tristan Leyds converted to level matters.
Then they capitalised on a New Zealand mistake to take what turned out to be an unassailable lead. As New Zealand tried to play it out from the back, Impi Visser pounced on an isolated ball-carrier to make a turnover before releasing Van Wyk to score the match-winner.
Pocket Rocket Ronald Brown would put on the finishing touches with a third try to wrap up South Africa’s scoring exploits. But there was a late consolation effort for New Zealand to make the scoreline read more flattering than it actually was.
