South Africa's hopes of staging a miracle qualification for the Olympics was dealt a massive blow as they lost their opening game 19-15 to hosts Great Britain in the London Sevens on Saturday.
The Blitzboks were rocked by three early tries by the hosts before coming back with three of their own but it wasn't enough to haul in the hosts and snatch victory.
Captain Siviwe Soyizwapi scored in the first half while Ryan Oosthuizen and Shaun Williams scored in the second half.
Australia and Samoa both won their opening games to keep their qualification hopes for the final Olympic qualifying place alive.
The Blitzboks now face the USA at 15.15 and New Zealand at 19.33 to complete their pool fixtures.