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Cape Town - The Blitzbokke made a wobbly start to their Hong Kong Sevens campaign, beating Spain 33-5 in their opening match on Friday.
Click HERE for all fixtures and results from Hong Kong
While the result was never going to be in doubt, it was the Spaniards who scored first to shock the Boks in the opening minute. Some poor tackling and a non-shifting defence meant that Carlos Blanco was able to go over in the corner for the opening score.
It saw a very tense Springbok Sevens coach Paul Treu barking about basics, as the Las Vegas Sevens champions were slow to come into their own.
They looked nervous but once they got their hands on the ball, they never looked back grabbing two tries to take a half-time 12-5 lead.
The Blitzbokke got their first through a clever grubber by Paul Jordaan, who later limped off with a knock to the upper thigh, and then their second came when captain Kyle Brown broke through two tackles to offload to Branco du Preez to score.
The second half was much more controlled, and more classic Blitzbokke rugby, as the team scored three more tries against the gritty Spaniards.
The first came from excellent interplay that saw Paul Delport cross for his try, before a top-notch handoff by Cecil Afrika added another.
Chris Dry’s break in his own 22 metre area ensured the final try, but he unselfishly passed inside on the tryline to Afrika for a better conversion, giving the playmaker his second of the match.
The score was Afrika’s 50th try in the IRB Sevens Series.
Scorers:
South Africa:
Tries: Cecil Afrika (2), Branco du Preez, Paul Delport, Paul Jordaan
Conversions: Afrika (4)
Spain:
Try: Carlos Blanco
Click HERE for all fixtures and results from Hong Kong
While the result was never going to be in doubt, it was the Spaniards who scored first to shock the Boks in the opening minute. Some poor tackling and a non-shifting defence meant that Carlos Blanco was able to go over in the corner for the opening score.
It saw a very tense Springbok Sevens coach Paul Treu barking about basics, as the Las Vegas Sevens champions were slow to come into their own.
They looked nervous but once they got their hands on the ball, they never looked back grabbing two tries to take a half-time 12-5 lead.
The Blitzbokke got their first through a clever grubber by Paul Jordaan, who later limped off with a knock to the upper thigh, and then their second came when captain Kyle Brown broke through two tackles to offload to Branco du Preez to score.
The second half was much more controlled, and more classic Blitzbokke rugby, as the team scored three more tries against the gritty Spaniards.
The first came from excellent interplay that saw Paul Delport cross for his try, before a top-notch handoff by Cecil Afrika added another.
Chris Dry’s break in his own 22 metre area ensured the final try, but he unselfishly passed inside on the tryline to Afrika for a better conversion, giving the playmaker his second of the match.
The score was Afrika’s 50th try in the IRB Sevens Series.
Scorers:
South Africa:
Tries: Cecil Afrika (2), Branco du Preez, Paul Delport, Paul Jordaan
Conversions: Afrika (4)
Spain:
Try: Carlos Blanco
