All Blacks exact revenge on Blitzboks to win Cape Town Sevens
But the tight scoreline was indicative of a thrilling if flawed final.
A view of the Blitzboks during day 3 of the 2019 HSBC Cape Town Sevens match 29, semi-finals match between South Africa and France at Cape Town Stadium on December 15, 2019 in Cape Town, South Africa. (Photo by Ashley Vlotman/Gallo Images)
The All Blacks gained revenge for last week’s humbling at the hands of the Blitzboks in Dubai by winning the final of the Cape Town Sevens 7-5 on Sunday evening.
While the scoreline was indicative of the tightness of this affair, there was certainly no shortage of entertainment.
Indeed, this was a pulsating game, where the South Africans showed some immense heart on defence.
Shutting out the New Zealanders in the first half was a remarkable effort given the old enemy’s dominance.
On the balance though, the All Blacks deserved their win, based purely on the fact that they showed more enterprise and punching power on the attack.
They seemed to have fluffed their chance of winning when they let the Blitzboks scored the opening try of the game early in the second half.
Justin Geduld launched a good kick forward and Seabelo Senatla’s excellent chase put the All Blacks under pressure, who fumbled and allowed Geduld to cross the whitewash.
But the South Africans couldn’t gain a foothold and found themselves under pressure once again.
Something had to give and the New Zealanders nifty build-up play eventually saw replacement Ngarohi McGarvey-Black ghost through a gap, crucially dotting down behind the posts, allowing for the conversion.
The Blitzboks had a last-gasp opportunity to save their bacon after a high tackle on Selvyn Davids, but they strangely lost the resulting line-out.
It was rather ironic given how solid they’ve been in that discipline throughout the weekend.
For more sport your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.
