The Blitzboks beat Canada on Sunday night to avoid finishing in 12th place at the Los Angeles Sevens, but suffered another setback in their Series title hopes.
While the Springbok Women enjoyed their best tournament of the season, securing a place in the quarter-finals, before finishing in sixth place, the Blitzboks endured another disappointing outing after a pool stage exit was followed by beaten by Samoa in the ninth-place semi-finals.
The #BokWomen7s are through to the quarter-finals of the Los Angeles SVNS 🏆
They’ll face the USA tonight at 20:58!#RiseUp #HSBCSVNS pic.twitter.com/gtKbmKB3Hr
— SA Women’s Rugby (@WomenBoks) March 3, 2024
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The Blitzboks beat Canada 28-15 on Sunday night in the 11th-place playoff, with Zain Davids scoring a brace to go with tries from Ryan Oosthuizen and Tristan Leyds.
Lots of lessons learnt from a testing day in Los Angeles 💪 🇿🇦#PoweredByUnity #Blitzboks #HSBCSVNS pic.twitter.com/PVV19MvJD6
— Springbok Sevens (@Blitzboks) March 3, 2024
This comes after the Springbok Sevens beat Spain 22-19 in their final pool game – following defeats to Ireland and Argentina. The Blitzboks then surrendered a 10-0 half-time lead to lose 19-10 to Samoa in the ninth-place semi-finals.
It continues the Blitzboks’ North American nightmare, after finishing in ninth place in Vancouver last week.
With Antoine Dupont-inspired France securing gold in the final against Great Britain, the Blitzboks’ place in the top eight on the overall Series standings is under threat.
19 years in the making 🤯🇫🇷
Absolute scenes for @FranceRugby #HSBCSVNS | #HSBCSVNSLAX pic.twitter.com/nQMZ42NIFa
— HSBC SVNS (@SVNSSeries) March 4, 2024
Just 13 points separate the seventh-placed Springbok Sevens from ninth-placed Great Britain, with just two tournaments to play before the Grand Finale in Madrid.
In a change to this year’s Sevens Series, the top eight will play for the overall series title in the final tournament in Madrid.
Meanwhile, the Springbok Women produced their best performance of the season to qualify for the LA quarter-finals. After an opening loss to New Zealand, the Bok Women beat Fiji (19-7) and Brazil (10-7) to secure a last-eight clash with the USA.
A hard-fought 24-7 loss to the USA was followed by a 53-0 loss to France in the fifth-placed playoff.
Photo: Mike Lee – KLC fotos for World Rugby