Blitzboks struggle against England but top pool in Vancouver

Despite their total dominance of the 2016/17 HSBC World Sevens Series the Blitzboks again battled against England in their final Pool match of the Vancouver leg on Sunday.

England are the only team to have beaten SA this season.

In Vancouver the two sides met for the fourth time this year‚ with the match ending in a 12-12 draw when England flyer Dan Norton scored a late try and Tom Mitchell converted to secure the draw. England have beaten SA twice with the Blitzboks winning once this season.

The draw wasn’t enough for England though as SA emerged top of Pool A after beating Chile 33-0 and Kenya 15-5 earlier in the day. The Blitzboks will now meet hosts Canada in the quarterfinal in the early hours of Monday morning (SA time).

SA won last week’s fifth round in Las Vegas for their fourth title of the season. They went into Vancouver with a 24-point lead at the top of the standings over Fiji.

The Blitzboks had to dig deep to remain unbeaten on their North American trip though and had to grimly defend in their final pool match against England.

The leading tackler in the World Series‚ Chris Dry‚ said their performances on day one‚ especially against England‚ were not their best.

"We made it very difficult for ourselves by not controlling the ball and England punished us for that. We scrambled very well at the end and credit to the guys for that. England is a difficult side to defend against‚ as they can score from anywhere. Giving so much ball away helped them in their attack‚" Dry said.

"We are pleased to finish top of the pool as that was the first goal for the day. That creates some momentum going into day two. No doubt‚ tomorrow will be another tough one. Canada will be pumped up‚ playing in front of this great crowd in this great stadium."

The Blitzboks were uncharacteristically ill-disciplined‚ conceding 14 penalties in their three matches. It wasn’t too costly in the Pool phase but Dry accepted that it was an aspect that would need to improve going in to day two.

"The key for us will be discipline and controlling the ball against Canada‚” Dry said.

“If we control the ball‚ we will score points. Poor discipline also hampered us today and need to sort that out come tomorrow.”

•South Africa had to make a late change to their team due to a foot injury sustained by Stephan Dippenaar. Sandile Ngcobo‚ the official reserve player‚ replaces Dippenaar.

- TMG Digital