Johannesburg - The Springbok Sevens team will face hosts England on Sunday in the Cup quarter-finals of the London Sevens tournament after a historic day for captain Frankie Horne.
Coach Paul Treu said while his side faced an uphill battle against the home team, it was a challenge they would relish.
"We just needed to survive on day one and we did that," he said.
"I am pleased with our effort, although we have a tough clash against England in front of their home crowd tomorrow.
"We have shown in the last couple of tournaments that we have the right attitude and mentality when it comes to play-off matches."
Horne participated in a world-record 50th consecutive tournament appearance in the World Sevens Series on Saturday.
His side secured early wins over Australia and France in pool A of the competition to secure a spot in the Cup quarter-finals of the last tournament of the 2012/13 series.
The South Africans edged out Australia 5-0 in their opening match and then rallied late to beat France 17-14 to remain on track for a third consecutive tournament win in the series.
A 19-12 defeat to the United States in their final pool match ended a 13 match winning streak.
It was still a remarkable day for Horne and his team, who could win a fourth title on Sunday following tournament wins in Las Vegas, Tokyo and Glasgow.
Four new players were jetted in after the win in Scotland last weekend and one of them, Cecil Afrika, provided the spark against France.
Trailing with less than a minute to go, the highly rated former IRB Sevens Player of the Year scored the winning try.