Blitzboks’ Cape Town drought continues

Australia produced a masterclass of playoff rugby to bundle the Blitzboks out of the Cape Town Sevens in the quarter-finals on Sunday morning.

Having lost their final pool game to Ireland, the Springbok Sevens were expected to produce an improved performance under hot conditions at Cape Town Stadium.

However, their quarter-final performance was comfortably their worst of the season, as the hosts slipped tackles and failed to make any inroads into Australia’s half, let alone their 22-metre area, suffering a 28-0 whitewash in the process.

There were troubling signs from the first kick-off as youngster Quewin Nortje was flatted, allowing Australia to run 60 metres into South Africa’s 22, before the speedster was yellow-carded for a deliberate knock-down.

While the Blitzboks did excellently to see out that period without conceding, the dam wall eventually broke as Australia scored a quickfire double before the break, the second try coming from captain Selvyn Davids’ inability to find touch from a penalty with 30 seconds to play in the first half.

Australia continued to pin the hosts in their own 22 in the second with high and hanging restarts and the result was all but sealed when a promising Blitzboks attack ended in the visitors intercepting a desperate offload and going up the other end to score.

Earlier in the day, Ireland claimed another big scalp by knocking out 11-time tournament champions New Zealand in a 36-12 victory.

The Springbok Sevens next face New Zealand in the fifth-place play-off at approximately 4.52pm.

This article first appeared on sarugbymag.co.za. It is republished here with permission.