Jacques van der Westhuyzen

By Jacques van der Westhuyzen

Head of Sport


Blitzboks lose to Samoa in Toulouse — crash out of Cup competition

Neil Powell's team lost to Ireland but beat Spain on day one of the tournament in France.


South Africa’s Blitzboks on Saturday crashed out of the Cup competition at the Toulouse, France tournament in the World Rugby Sevens Series.

After losing to Ireland on day one, but hitting back against Spain, Neil Powell’s men also lost to Samoa on Saturday.

The Blitzboks crashed 19-7 to Samoa to finish third in their pool. It was the first time the Blitzboks had failed to make the quarter-finals in the Cup competition since Hong Kong in 2013.

Samoa topped the pool, with Ireland second and South Africa third. Spain finished fourth.

The error-ridden Boks conceded three first half tries to Samoa on Saturday to trail 19-0 at the break. Ronald Brown then scored the only points of the second half to get the Boks back in the game, but the South Africans could do no more than that.

The tournament finishes on Sunday, with South Africa’s early exit sure to bring about a big change at the top of the series standings.

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