Another Sevens title for Blitzboks as they go back-to-back in Dubai

JC Pretorius scored the winning try for the Springbok Sevens to defeat Australia 10-7 in a thrilling HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series final in Dubai on Saturday evening.

This hard-fought win means a second Emirates Dubai 7s tournament victory in as many weeks for the Blitzboks at their favourite desert hunting ground, where they also achieved a rare feat of three tournament wins in a row.

Australia took the fight to the Blitzboks and they led 7-5 at halftime after Dietrich Roache had converted their sole try scored by Corey Toole.

Siviwe Soyizwapi, the inspirational Blitzboks skipper, maintained his prolific form by scoring his team’s try early in the match, which was unconverted and meant Australia had a slender two-point lead at halftime.

The second stanza was a very tense affair and the Blitzboks were forced into many errors, however, their defensive work kept them in the game and it was no surprise when Ronald Brown jackaled another turnover to turn defence into a lethal attack.

The strong running Pretorius broke the Aussie resistance with a powerful surge, which set him up for the winning try.

South Africa stretched their impressive winning run to 24 matches on their way to a ninth overall title success in Dubai.

The semi-final against France was also in the balance until Pretorius scored a late try to add to a first-half brace by Siviwe Soyizwapi to secure the Springbok Sevens team a spot in the final.

The final score against the French was 19-12, but the Blitzboks had to dig very deep to get the victory and progress to their fourth successive Series final. It was also their 23^rd consecutive win.

In their first game on Saturday, the Blitzboks qualified for the semi-finals courtesy of a 31-19 win over a tough Kenyan side in their quarter-final.

Courtesy springboks.rugby