Blitzboks hit back to reach cup playoffs at Canada Sevens

The Springbok Sevens started the defence of their Canada Sevens title on a strong note by beating Spain, Canada and Australia to top pool C in Vancouver on Saturday, setting up a quarterfinal against Samoa on Sunday (8.02pm, SA time).

The SA side started fairly slowly against Spain in their 31-12 win after conceding the first try of the match, but a strong second half carried them through.

They then conceded two quick tries against Canada in a 19-14 win before a late try against Australia sealed a well deserved 22-19 victory.

Coming off three consecutive defeats in Singapore last week, the Blitzboks took a couple of minutes to get into their stride in the sixth tournament of the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series.

But their attacking abilities soon came to the fore as they charged into the last eight.

Scorers

South Africa 31 (19), Spain 12 (7)

South Africa – Tries: Darren Adonis, Siviwe Soyizwapi (2), Dewald Human, Impi Visser. Conversions: Human (3)

Spain – Tries: Eduardo Lopez, Tiago Romero. Conversion: Juan Martinez

South Africa 19 (12), Canada 14 (0)

South Africa – Tries: JC Pretorius, Ronald Brown, Selvyn Davids. Conversions: Brown, Shaun Williams.

Canada – Tries: David Richard, Cooper Coats. Conversions: Coats (2).

South Africa 22 (10), Australia 19 (14)

South Africa – Tries: Ronald Brown (2), Zain Davids, JC Pretorius. Conversion: Shaun Williams

Australia – Tries: Ben Marr, Matthew Gonzalez, Nick Malouf. Conversions: Dietrich Roache (2).