The Springbok Sevens side survived a massive scare, but needed a try by Tristan Lleyds in extra time to beat Great Britain 17-12 on a golden try moment at the HSBC World Championship in Valladolid in Spain on Friday.
The Blitzboks were uncharacteristically nervous and dropped several balls in the Spanish heat as they struggled to get their game plan going, meaning Great Britain turned the game into an arm wrestle where neither side took control.
Eventually it was Charlton Kerr who broke the deadlock, breaking through in the fifth minute to get the British side ahead early on. But the Blitzboks hit back through speedster Shilton van Wyk, who ghosted through a hole in his own half for a long range try.
The Blitzboks then took the lead, using speed as Dewald Human punted a ball downfield for a chasing Sebastian Jobb to follow up and score.
Just as it looked as if the Blitzboks were going to win the game, Britain kicked through a ball of their own, and unfortunately Ricardo Duarttee, watching the ball, clashed with the post, allowing Ben Salmon to level the scores on the stroke of fulltime.
The Blitzboks did get the try in extra time, a set move from a scrum that saw Lleyds drift a bit wider to beat the outside shoulder of the defender, giving them the victory they needed to start the tournament on a high note.
Their next game is against Kenya at 17:08 before facing Australia on Saturday in their final pool match. Kenya lost narrowly - also in extra time - to the Australians by the same score as in the SA game.
The Springbok Women’s team put up a brave performance but went down 26-12 against Australia in their opening game. They next face USA at 14:29