Blitzboks conquer the English but wobble against Canada

DESPITE an uncharacteristic performance, the Blitzboks secured a semi-final spot at the Malaga Sevens yesterday after defeating Canada 14-0 in the Cup quarter-finals.

It took the Springbok Sevens side 11 minutes to score their first try through Ryan Oosthuizen.

The reigning World Sevens Series champions didn’t have much possession in the first half, and when they did, handling mistakes robbed them of converting their time with ball-in-hand into points.

Things didn’t change drastically after the break, but Neil Powell’s team showed good patience on defence and Justin Geduld grabbed their second try in the second stanza to bag the win.

Earlier, the Blitzboks swept England aside.

Not even the news of their skipper Siviwe Soyizwapi being ruled out with the shoulder injury he suffered against Scotland on Friday could take away from the South Africans’ ruthless brilliance against the English.

The Blitzboks started dangerously and were rewarded when the experienced Branco du Preez cut through England’s defence after a botched line-out to score the opening try (5-0).

After winning a breakdown penalty in midfield, South Africa spread it wide and struck again when Impi Visser turned on the gas down touch to run in their second (12-5).

Mfundo Ndhlovu – who is playing in his first tournament in almost two years due to injury – scored the team’s third try after the Blitzboks were simply sublime from the set-piece to go 17-0 up.

Zain Davids made sure to add his name to the scorers’ list on the stroke of halftime after he cut a stunning running line before dotting down (26-0).

The second half proved no different as the Blitzboks continued their ruthless dominance. Dewald Human ran in their fifth try and, even after going one man down when Ndhlovu was shown yellow, Neil Powell’s men still managed to show just why they are at the top of the Sevens world as they exploited England’s poor defence to grab their sixth through Justin Geduld (38-0).

The Blitzboks came close to levelling their biggest-ever winning margin against England when Darren Adonis scored their seventh, but the conversion went wide and the one-way affair ended 43-0.