Blitzboks labour into Dubai quarters for showdown with England

Despite a shock 15-12 loss against Argentina in their final Pool match on day one of the season-opening Dubai leg of the Dubai leg of the 2018-19 HSBC World Sevens Series on Friday‚ the Blitzboks moved laboriously into the quarterfinals.

As defending World Series champions and also the reigning Dubai Cup holders‚ the Blitzboks flexed their muscles initially but ill-discipline cost them in the day’s final match.

Two yellow cards – one for debutant Impi Visser and another for the seasoned Siviwe Soyizwapi – cost SA a 12-0 lead against Argentina‚ which gave the South Americans a way into the match and also a way to finish it off too.

Despite the defeat the Blitzboks still topped Pool A on points’ difference and will meet England in Saturday’s quarterfinals with Argentina dramatically eliminating Samoa. All three teams ended the day on seven log points.

Early on day one of the new season‚ the Blitzboks brushed Zimbabwe aside 31-0 in their opening match with a workmanlike performance.

A 19-12 win over Samoa in their second fixture appeared close on the scoreboard‚ the Blitzboks were always comfortable and looked well set to make it three from three against Argentina.

In their third match of the day‚ played without the injured Justin Geduld‚ Neil Powell’s men made a bright start with two quickly taken tries.

Ryan Oosthuizen capitalised on an Argentina knock-on close to the lone to snipe over. A few minutes later Werner Kok raced onto a cross-field kick from Dewald Human to score without a hand on him. But then it went south.

“We started well but the yellow card late in the first half allowed them to score and that gave Argentina momentum‚” Kok said.

“The second yellow card made it difficult for us to keep them out in the final second.

“But we know we can come back a lot better tomorrow with a new mindset. Discipline is definitely something we will have to work on because there were way too many high tackles and other silly penalties that we gave away.”

All the major contenders advanced to the Cup quarterfinals but there were some typically rusty performances.

Fiji only just held on to beat Scotland 21-17 but went through the pool phase undefeated while 12-time Series champions New Zealand came through their pool unscathed.

Tidy wins over Wales‚ Spain and the USA indicated that they could be the team to beat in the playoffs.