The Springbok Sevens team bowed out of the Bordeaux Sevens title race when they were beaten by hosts France 21-12 in the semifinal on Sunday.
The Blitzboks had already claimed the World Championship title on Saturday when France beat their nearest rivals Australia in the quarterfinals and will now face Spain in the third-place playoff at 16h32. France and New Zealand will contest the final.
The Blitzboks faced a fiercely partisan crowd and a referee under pressure, but made several mistakes at crucial times that didn’t allow them to get the win they wanted.
They were playing catch-up for most of the game as France scored early through Enahemo Artaud, but the Blitzboks hit back through Tristan Lleyds, who took a beauty of an offload from Impi Visser to run the length of the far touchline to score.
Even at the break, it was a double strike of two tries in two minutes - from Rayan Rebbadj and Antoine Zeghdar that settled the game for the hosts.
The Blitzboks hit back late with a try from Donavan Don, but it wasn’t enough to put them into the final.