Van Wyk inspires Blitzboks to quarterfinal stage after dispatching France

The top-seeded Blitzboks completed a clean sweep of victories in the pool stages of the HSBC Cape Town Sevens with a commanding win over France in front of supporters who donned colourful costumes and displayed early festive cheer.

After their 10-point victory against Olympic gold medallists Fiji, the Commonwealth Games-winning Blitzboks continued their upward trajectory under the new coaching staff of Sandile Ngcobo and Philip Snyman after some teething problems in Hong Kong.

Ngcobo’s charges topped Pool A at the Cape Town Stadium ahead of Fiji, who they got the better of earlier in the day.

Captain Siviwe ‘Shakes’ Soyizwapi, praised the team’s attitude and application pre-showdown with Les Tricolores and the players maintained their intensity as they secured safe passage to the knockout stages.

After scoring three tries against Fiji, the Blitzboks continued to evolve their attacking game with four tries against France in the final game of pool play.

Frederic Pomarel’s men, who have still never beaten South Africa at home, conceded two tries in the first stanza.

The opener was a superb solo effort from Muller du Plessis, who backed himself out wide and bulldozed over.

The second was scored after Stephen Parez Edo Martin, who had earlier scored for France, was yellow carded for a cynical slap down.

After taking a 12-7 lead into the break, the Blitzboks conceded four penalties in a row in the second half, which stunted their early momentum.

However, Shilton van Wyk produced a moment of magic with a chip-and-chase and completed his brace with his blistering pace allowing him to get on the end of a grubber.

The 22-year-old Van Wyk, who was man of the match in the final of the Dubai Sevens tournament against Australia, continued where he left off against Fiji with another impressive individual performance.

Ahead of the Cape Town leg of the series, South Africa and Australia were level on 32 points on the overall standings after two tournaments.

The men from Down Under only managed a draw against USA in their final pool game which means the Blitzboks will take on Great Britain, who finished second in Pool C, in the final fixture of day two.

The Blitzboks, who last won the HSBC Cape Town Sevens in 2015, will be determined to break their domestic drought and will move one step closer if they see off Great Britain on Saturday night just after 9pm.

Scorers:

South Africa 26 (12) — Tries: Muller du Plessis, Dalvon Blood, Shilton van Wyk (2). Conversions: Ricardo Duarttee (2), Branco du Preez.

France 7 (7) — Try: Stephen Parez Edo Martin. Conversion: Rayan Rebbadj.

Support independent journalism by subscribing to the Sunday Times. Just R20 for the first month.