South Africa's Sevens rugby players yesterday showed their 15-man counterparts how it's done.
The BlitzBoks reached new heights at the Dubai World Sevens, beating the All Blacks 40-0 in the quarterfinals and Wales 36-5 in the semifinals.
They were due to meet Fiji in the final. Reports of that match will be carried in later editions.
On Friday, they won their pool by beating Uganda 46-0, Scotland 21-5 and the US 19-17.
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In all three matches, the Boks were slick in their handling, brilliant in their attack and resilient in defence. But this hardly prepared the fans for what was to follow a day later: the annihilation of the All Blacks, the most successful team in the history of the world sevens series.
The BlitzBoks scored six tries against the All Blacks, goalling five. At half time, they led 19-0 and kept up the pressure on the New Zealanders in the second half.
The All Blacks were pinned back by the South African defence and never got a decent attack going. In the second half, the All Blacks hardly emerged from their own half.
In the semifinal against Wales, Seabelo Senatla scored a hat-trick of tries. Up to the semifinals, Senatla had scored 10 tries in this tournament, the first of the Sevens series.
Fiji beat Canada 26-19, Wales (24-12) and Argentina (40-5) in the first-round matches.
They thumped France 40-5 in the quarterfinals before eliminating a strong England team 31-12 in the semifinals.
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