Solid Olympics start for Blitzboks

Cape Town - The Springbok Sevens side started their 2016 Olympic Games campaign with a solid victory over Spain in Rio de Janeiro on Tuesday.

The Blitzboks won 24-0, after leading 14-0 at the break.

It was a nervy start for the South Africans, with a few early passes going astray, but they soon found their feet and proved far too strong for the Spanish, scoring four tries.

Cecil Afrika was South Africa's headline player, contributing 14 points, including two tries. He could have scored a hat-trick late in the game but lost the ball in a tackle as he was about to dot down under the posts.

South Africa will play France in their second Group B match at 21:30 (SA time) on Tuesday, while they conclude their pool phase play against Australia on Wednesday (16:30 SA time).

Scorers

South Africa

Tries: Cecil Afrika (2), Seabelo Senatla, Philip Snyman

Conversions: Afrika (2)

Springbok Sevens squad:

Kyle Brown (captain), Tim Agaba, Philip Snyman, Werner Kok, Dylan Sage, Kwagga Smith, Rosko Specman, Cheslin Kolbe, Cecil Afrika, Justin Geduld, Juan de Jongh, Seabelo Senatla

Travelling reserves: Chris Dry, Francois Hougaard

FT: #RSA beat #ESP in Pool B to get their #Rio2016 campaign off to a flyer #Rugby7s https://t.co/kKhvfcvdkX pic.twitter.com/7ZkKracAH6

— World Rugby Sevens (@WorldRugby7s) August 9, 2016