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Blitzboks face tough Fiji after Pumas loss

rugby27 January 2024 06:14| © SuperSport
By:Brenden Nel
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The Springbok Sevens team face an uphill task if they are to continue their good form in the Australian leg of the World SVNS Series, after they lost to Argentina to set up a quarterfinal showdown with in-form Fiji on Saturday.

The Blitzboks had only themselves to blame as they lost 19-5 to the Los Pumas, who lead the World Series log at the moment, as they were a jumble of handling errors and couldn’t get going while their opposition were slick and polished in their execution.

It was beyond frustrating at times as the Blitzboks set up good attacking form, but then would drop the ball at a crucial time, as Argentina continue to be a bogey side for them.

And their task now gets a lot tougher, as they face Fiji, who ended unbeaten in their pool of death by topping Pool C after wins on Friday against France and Samoa and then used extra time to beat their long-time foes New Zealand to send the All Blacks out of the cup tournament.

Their 21-14 win came from 14-0 down as they were sensational in the second half and the Blitzboks are quickly going to have to find their own form if they are to progress further in the tournament.

The quarterfinal against Fiji will kick off at 1pm.

In their loss against Argentina it was Quewin Nortje who added his third try in three games to go over in the corner in the second minute but it was the only try-scoring moment for the Blitzboks.

While they toiled and struggled, Argentina scored two end to end tries and looked like the No 1 seeds as their physicality troubled the Blitzboks and got the leeway from the referee as well.

In the end the Blitzboks will be kicking themselves for their own performance, as they were the masters of their own demise, and will quickly have to get themselves right if they are to go further in the tournament.

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