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Blitzbokke crush France

Herman Mostert

Cape Town - The Springbok Sevens side comfortably defeated France to top their group at the Las Vegas leg of the IRB Sevens World Series.

Click here for live scoring from Las Vegas

South Africa won 33-5, after leading 12-5 at half-time.

South Africa started well, piling the pressure on the French, with skipper Kyle Brown making a bullocking run down the touchline to dot down inside the first two minutes. Mark Richards converted for a 7-0 lead.

But France came storming back, with livewire scrumhalf Terry Bouhraoua looking promising on attack. South Africa's defence held firm though but the French were eventually rewarded after several minutes and phases when Manoel Dall Igna scored in the corner to bring them to within two (5-7) just before the break.

But the South Africans weren't content just to play out the half and kept probing at the French line. Chris Dry then went over after the hooter had sounded to put his team 12-5 up at the break.

South Africa started the second half like they finished the first and were rewarded for their pressure when Bernado Botha scored under the posts in the first minute. Richards converted for a 19-5 lead.

By now France were a beaten side, knowing beforehand that they had to win by at least six points just to make the Cup quarter-finals, and when Richards scored two minutes later, the game was all but over. The Sharks speedster converted his try for a 26-5 advantage.

The Blitzbokke kept on the pressure and camped inside the French 22m area for the last few minutes. Cornal Hendricks rounded off right at the death to seal a comfortable victory. Branco du Preez converted for a 33-5 scoreline.

South Africa will now play either Canada, Argentina or the USA in the Cup quarter-finals.

The Blitzbokke defeated Uruguay (35-0) and Wales (29-12) on the first day of the event.
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