South Africa will face Australia in a crucial fifth place semifinal on Sunday after bowing out of the Toulouse7s Cup competition by losing 21-12 to Argentina in their quarterfinal spot.
But the race for the elusive Olympic games spot is not over yet, as both Australia and Samoa - the teams above the Blitzboks - had poor tournaments and didn’t advance to the semifinals, leaving the door open to the South Africans if they can put together a good final tournament in London next week.
Three tries without reply was enough for Argentina and it was the same tormentor that killed off the Tokyo Olympic dream that sunk them this time around - speedster Marcos Moneta scored a brace early on to rip the game away from the Blitzboks and set Los Pumas up for victory.
¡Pasamos a semis! ¡Las mejores postales! ???#SeVenComoNunca | #FranceSevens pic.twitter.com/bLwURKgLmL
— Los Pumas 7s (@lospumas7arg) May 13, 2023
The missed opportunity to grab valuable points means they need to beat Australia and grab every available point to give themselves a chance in London to make it up and qualify for the final Olympic spot after Argentina qualified earlier on Saturday.
“We let ourselves down with this game," said captain Shakes Soyizwapi, who is playing in his 50th tournament.
"We had everything to play for and could have gained much needed points, especially as both Samoa and Australia handed us that opportunity, but we did not take it. And we only have ourselves to blame.
“It is frustrating, we did so well against Fiji and USA and that gave us a very good opportunity to get some valuable points, but then we didn't sustain the effort against Argentina. I wish I can lay my finger on why, but I can’t to be honest.”
The Australia game kicks off at 12:48pm on Sunday, giving the Blitzboks a chance to grab some valuable points ahead of the London showdown.