Share

Blitzbokke face Fiji in Dubai

Dubai - The Springbok Sevens squad have the tough task of facing Fiji in the cup quarter-final of the HSBC Dubai Sevens Series after losing 19-14 to a very young Australian squad on Friday.

Had the Boks won, they would have been up against England which would have been a less daunting challenge than facing the Sevens specialists.

In both opening tournaments of last season, Fiji was the side that kept the Boks from reaching the finals.

Failure to protect the ball at the breakdown resulted in many turnovers and some serious attention needs to be paid to this aspect of the Springbok game if they are to achieve success.

For the second time in the day’s play Cecil Afrika scored the opening try for the Blitzboks which he also converted.

Unlike in the first two fixtures of the day, Paul Treu’s charges looked far more composed, but still failed to put enough pressure on the Australians.

Australia wasted no time to wipe out the early deficit and entered halftime with a deserved 12-7 lead.

Debutant John Grant, who scored his team’s second try in the first half, added five more points after the break when Australia out-muscled the Boks at a ruck.

Grant scored five tries on his first day playing with the world’s top teams.

Afrika eventually restored some pride with a fine finish, but it was too late and probably the deserved result on a day of mixed fortunes for the inexperienced South African squad.

After a solid victory in their opening match against Russia, the Boks were held to a 19-all draw by Scotland.

Having looked the better side for most of the match, they were on the receiving end of a courageous fight-back from the Scots and had to watch Peter Horne score the equalising try seconds from the final whistle.

Had it not been for the missed conversion attempt by Andrew Skeen – Skeen’s shot at goal striking the upright – the Boks would not have had any chance of reaching the cup quarter-finals.

Against Russia Afrika and Kyle Brown showed that they are starting to get the hang of the high-paced version of the game while Bernardo Botha is sure to celebrate the try he scored on debut.

The consistency that Treu asked for from his team leading up to the tournament was not delivered on the day.

Had the squad, which features six new players, managed to give Treu what he wanted it would have been interesting to see how tough they could have made life for their opponents.

Scorers:

South Africa v Australia Springboks 14 (7):

Tries - Cecil Afrika (2).

Conversions: Afrika (2)

Australia: 19 (12)

Tries - Bernard Foley, John Grant (2).

Conversions - Foley (2).

Scorers:

South Africa v Scotland Springboks 19 (12):

Tries Kyle Brown (2) Cecil Afrika.

Conversion. Afrika (2) Scotland 19 (7) – Fraser Harnkness, Dougie Fife, Peter Horne.

Conversions: Horne, Andrew Skeen.

Scorers: South Africa v Russia Springboks: 19 (7)

Tries - Cecil Afrika, Bernado Botha, Kyle Brown.

Conversions - Afrika, Renfred Dazel

Russia: 10 (5)

Tries - Nikolay Goroshilov, Dmitriy Perov

Results:

Pool A

Samoa 21 Wales 21

Kenya 31 Arabian Gulf 19

Samoa 54 Arabian Gulf 12

Kenya 12 Wales 17

Wales 47 Arabian Gulf 5

Samoa 26 Kenya 7

Pool B

New Zealand 31 United States 7

Argentina 14 Zimbabwe 24

New Zealand 59 Zimbabwe 0

Argentina 19 United States 24

United States 28 Zimbabwe 12

New Zealand 24 Argentina 19

Pool C

Australia 41 Scotland 14

South Africa 19 Russia 10

Australia 28 Russia 19

South Africa 19 Scotland 19

Scotland 26 Russia 10

Australia 19 South Africa 14

Pool D

Fiji 31 Portugal 7

England 24 France 12

Fiji 35 France 5

England 12 Portugal 14

Portugal 26 France 14

Fiji 21 England 26

Bowl quarter-finals

Kenya v Argentina

Portugal v Russia

Scotland v France

Zimbabwe v Arabian Gulf

We live in a world where facts and fiction get blurred
Who we choose to trust can have a profound impact on our lives. Join thousands of devoted South Africans who look to News24 to bring them news they can trust every day. As we celebrate 25 years, become a News24 subscriber as we strive to keep you informed, inspired and empowered.
Join News24 today
heading
description
username
Show Comments ()
Voting Booth
Should Siya Kolisi keep the captaincy as the Springboks build towards their World Cup title defence in 2027?
Please select an option Oops! Something went wrong, please try again later.
Results
Yes! Siya will only be 36 at the next World Cup. He can make it!
26% - 1273 votes
No! I think the smart thing to do is start again with a younger skipper ...
29% - 1470 votes
I'd keep Siya captain for now, but look to have someone else for 2027.
45% - 2249 votes
Vote
Editorial feedback and complaints

Contact the public editor with feedback for our journalists, complaints, queries or suggestions about articles on News24.

LEARN MORE