Blitzbokke qualify for Paris playoffs
The Springbok Sevens sauntered to easy 30-7 victory over Brazil to qualify for the Cup quarter-finals at the Paris Sevens on Saturday.
|||The Springbok Sevens sauntered to easy 30-7 victory over Brazil to qualify for the Cup quarter-finals at the Paris Sevens on Saturday.
The Blitzbokke ran in four tries in the first half to break the back of the Brazilian resistance, with star speedster Seabelo Senatla again amongst the tries, to go through to the last eight on Sunday.
The South Africans were without the influential Kwagga Smith, who is sitting out Saturday’s action with a “slight niggle”, but the team didn’t feel his absence as they cantered to a six-tries-to-one win.
Regular captain Kyle Brown, who was given a break from the leadership by coach Neil Powell for the Paris Sevens for Philip Snyman, opened the scoring after good work by Francois Hougaard.
And then it was the pace of Senatla that grabbed two quick tries, with the second resulting from a clever offload by Ryan Kankowski. In the process, Senatla recorded his 150th try of his World Sevens Series career.
It was too much to handle for the battling Brazilians, as Cecil Afrika and Ruhan Nel showed good pace to outstrip the defence.
The South Americans had some luck when Andre Silva grabbed an intercept try after running from his own 22, but Kankowski finished things off when Hougaard again created the space with his quick feet.
There were also early wins on Saturday for Singapore champions Kenya, Fiji, New Zealand, Samoa and Argentina and France.
The Blitzbokke’s final Pool C game is against Australia at 4.15pm on Saturday.
POINTS-SCORERS
South Africa – Tries: Kyle Brown, Seabelo Senatla (2), Cecil Afrika, Ruhan Nel, Ryan Kankowski.
Brazil – Try: Andre Silva. Conversion: Luca Rodriguez (1).
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