The Springbok Sevens team completed a successful pool stage of their World Rugby Sevens Repechage tournament in Monaco on Saturday, finishing top of Pool A with victories over Tonga (31-7) and Chile (26-7) after defeating Mexico (44-0) on Friday, and will now face Uganda at 11:31am (SA time) on Sunday in the quarterfinal.
The Monaco winner will qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.
Springbok Sevens interim Head Coach Philip Snyman praised his troops after the three wins, saying that an important first hurdle was crossed.
"We needed to top the pool and to do so, we needed to play three good matches on the trot,” said Snyman.
“I think we did that over the last two days, and although it was not perfect, the first objective was reached.”
Day 2️⃣ done and dusted 💪#PoweredByUnity pic.twitter.com/bV0a4em1qu
— Springbok Sevens (@Blitzboks) June 22, 2024
They will face Uganda - a team Snyman coached to Rugby World Cup Sevens qualification in 2022.
"They are skillful athletes and a country with a proud Olympic heritage, so need no motivation for this game,” Snyman said.
“For us the challenge will be to continue the momentum picked up over the first two days because tomorrow is when it really matters.”
The opening clash against Tonga was a physical affair as expected.
The Blitzboks countered that with superior ball skills and pace. Quewin Nortje again showed that his pace had no peers at this level with two well taken tries in the first half, and a Shilton van Wyk dotted down in the corner gave the SA side a 24-0 lead at the break.
The second half was more of the same although the Blitzboks conceded a try to keep them honest.
Good start to the second day in Monaco. 31-7 over Tonga.#PoweredByUnity pic.twitter.com/PxpWLAP17M
— Springbok Sevens (@Blitzboks) June 22, 2024
Against Chile, more patience was needed to break their opponents down.
Tristan Leyds opened the scoring after a delightful Selvyn Davids grubber opened up the Chilean defence. He converted as well for a 7-0 lead.
Van Wyk scored on the buzzer after a delightful Leyds offload, who converted as well for a 14-0 lead at the break.
In the second spell, Siviwe Soyizwapi finished a well-worked try from a counter-attack that started near their own line.
Chile pulled one back with two minutes left, but Ryan Oosthuizen scored after a soft touch by Tiaan Pretorius. and Shaun Williams converted.
Scorers:
South Africa 31 (10), Tonga 7 (0)
SA - Tries: Quewin Nortje (2), Shilton van Wyk, Selvyn Davids, Shaun Williams. Conversions: Leyds (3).
South Africa 26 (14), Chile 7 (0).
SA - Tries: Tristan Leyds, Shilton van Wyk, Siviwe Soyizwapi, Ryan Oosthuizen. Conversions: Leyds (2), Shaun Williams.
© SA Rugby