The Springbok Sevens team ended their Singapore Sevens campaign in disappointment, losing a close third-place playoff to New Zealand 14-12 to finish fourth in the tournament.
The Blitzboks, who had swept aside Spain and Great Britain and then lost in extra time to Fiji on day one, lost their semifinal against France on day two also by a small margin, going down 12-5 to the Olympic champions after being down 12-0 at the break.
Their only try in a hard-fought semifinal was scored by Christie Grobbelaar, while Paulin Riva and Simon Desert crossed for the French side, who will meet Fiji in the final later on.
In the third-place playoff, Kelly Lasaqa scored in the third minute to give New Zealand the lead, a lead they held onto until the break despite Tristan Leyds getting a try back for the Blitzboks.
The Blitzboks took the lead though in the second half as they stretched the All Black Sevens side with Shilton van Wyk scoring to take them to 12-7 ahead.
But a late try to Michael Manson in the last minute, crucially converted by Riley Williams gave the New Zealanders a narrow win and some extra log points for their efforts.