A late try by Fijian Rere Ropate ended South Africa's hopes of winning the Perth SVNS tournament as the South Sea Islanders won a tense match 14-12 on Saturday.
After the Blitzboks qualified second from their pool, losing 19-5 to Argentina in their final pool match, they were up against a tough Fijian side, who had beaten France, Samoa and New Zealand in pool play.
Ryan Oosthuizen opened thes scoring to put the Blitzboks ahead, before Terio Tamane got Fiji on the board.
Debutant Tristan Leyds scored and converted his own try to seem to have clinched it for the Blitzboks, but a yellow card to James Murphy opened up a numerical advantage and allowed Ropate to score, with Tamane's conversion the vital difference between the two sides.
They will now face France in the 5th place semifinal on Sunday at 9.24am.
*Despite a bad day one, the Blitzboks Women's team beat Great Britain 14-12 in their final pool game before beating Spain in the 9th place semifinal.
They will face Brazil in the ninth place playoff at 5.31am on Sunday