Specmagic sees Blitzboks snatch victory over France

The Springbok Sevens side snatched victory from the jaws of defeat as Dylan Sage scored an extra-time winner to down France and top their pool at the Singapore Sevens with a 20-19 victory.

The irony of another one-point victory over France, echoing the Rugby World Cup fifteens victory wasn’t lost on the team as they celebrated their never-give-up attitude after it looked as if France had stolen the win.

The Blitzboks will now face Australia in the quarterfinal at 2:12pm.

In a seesaw game that was definitely a tale of two different halves, the Blitzboks went 15-0 up after three first-half tries and then watched as France stormed back in the second half with three tries of their own, taking a 19-15 lead with less than 10 seconds left to play when the final kickoff was taken.

It was almost botched and the Blitzboks won a penalty under pressure in their own 22, where the ball was shifted to Rosko Specman, who turned on the Specmagic to break the defensive line and surge 70 metres upfield before he was hauled in.

A backward pass over his own head found Impi Visser, who moved the ball with speed out to Sage to claim the try with an over-elaborate dive for the veteran, who returned to the side ahead of this tournament.

NORTJE AND LEYDS GET THINGS GOING

Earlier, it was Quewin Nortje who opened the scoring, after which Tristan Leyds did a massive dive in at the corner for the second try. The third came after France spilt the ball and Selvyn Davids scooted through without being touch with the turnover.

*In the Women’s section, South Africa will face Spain for the ninth and 10th-place semifinal playoff after a poor showing saw them go down 34-7 to Japan in their final pool game and fail to qualify for the quarterfinals.

It was a disappointing result after their heroics in beating the USA on day one and shows the struggle for consistency that will continue for them on the sevens circuit. Their match will kick off at 10:03am.

MEN'S QUARTERFINALS

13h00 France v Great Britain

13h24 Argentina v Ireland

13h48 USA v New Zealand

14h12 South Africa v Australia