The Springbok Sevens opened their Cape Town 7s campaign in fine style, trouncing Ireland 36-7 in a statement of intent on Saturday.
With the format changed, and every game having a lot of jeopardy, the Blitzboks were exceptional, scoring four tries in the first half and totally outplaying the Irish side as they delighted their home fans.
The Blitzboks scored nine tries to one in a totally dominant performance as Quewin Nortje, Impi Visser and Ricardo Duarte all scored braces in the try fest.
The game started with a turnover leading to Dawid Brits’ opening try, while Nortje scored his brace shortly afterwards, with Visser adding his inbetween Nortje’s brace. The second of Nortje’s tries came after Jordan Conray kicked the ball ahead and looked set to score, but a wicked bounce flummoxed him, allowing the ball to go to Duartee, who sent Nortje down field to score.
Josh Costello scored Ireland’s only try in the second half but it was never going to trouble the home side.
South Africa now will face Argentina for a spot in the semifinals at 6.41pm with the winner getting the coveted spot and the loser likely to face a playoff for 5th to 8th spots.
Other teams that looked good on day one was Olympic champions France, who hammered USA 50-12, while Kenya shocked Australia 19-12 in an exciting game.