Blitzboks to face All Blacks in London quarters

Cape Town - Neil Powell's Blitzboks will have to beat arch-rivals New Zealand in the Cup quarter-finals at the London Sevens if they wish to keep alive their hopes of tournament success on Sunday.

Despite a shock 21-12 defeat to Samoa in their final Pool D clash on Saturday, the Blitzboks finished top of the group, setting up the mouth-watering showdown against Pool A runners-up, New Zealand.

In their earlier matches, the Blitzboks beat Russia 31-0 and Canada 17-7.

The All Blacks looked to be in fine form, downing Scotland 24-12 and Argentina 36-5, but ran into a red-hot Fijian side in their final clash, losing 27-0.

That left overall tournament leaders Fiji top of the log - and a Cup quarter-final against Canada.

The Blitzboks and New Zealand clash at 12:42 SA time on Sunday.

Fiji top the standings by four points, with the London Sevens the penultimate leg in the 10-tournament series.

The final leg, in Paris, takes place between June 8-10.