The Springbok Sevens team surged into the quarterfinals with a tough 17-12 win over the USA to top their group and end the pool stages at the Tokyo Olympics unbeaten.
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But if the pool stages were tough, the going will get tougher now that the teams are into the knockout stages.
The Blitzboks face Argentina in their quarterfinal, after Los Pumas qualified from their group and if they win that, they have a massive potential semifinal against Olympic champions Fiji or Australia, who face each other in the other quarterfinal.
But given the obstacles the team has faced thus far in just getting to the competition, any result is a good one, especially as coach Neil Powell remains in isolation after testing positive for Covid and isn’t with the side.
The dangerous American side, who also qualified for the quarterfinals, and will face Great Britain in their quarterfinal, were closed down well as the Blitzboks exploited defensive mistakes to take the victory, which was tense to the end.
A brace of tries by Selwyn Davids and a third by Stedman Gans - two coming off American mistakes, saw the Blitzboks home in the end as they kept their composure on a wet field where they slipped too many tackles for comfort but scrambled well.
Still, the Blitzboks made sure the speedsters in the American team didn’t get any space to exploit and will be happy with their victory.
Argentina shocked Australia on day one and will provide a tough test for the Blitzboks later on Tuesday. Kickoff is scheduled for 11.28am and is live on Supersport.
Quarterfinals
QF1: New Zealand v Canada
QF2: Great Britain v USA
QF3: South Africa v Argentina
QF4: Fiji v Australia
QF 3: 27 July at 11:28 on SS Rugby and OTT 2