The Blitzboks ended sixth at the Hong Kong Sevens on Sunday, bowing out of the tournament with a disappointing 33-14 loss to Fiji.
The Blitzboks would have secured their spot in the season-ending Madrid tournament for the top eight teams if they had won the game, and will now need to get the points next month in the Singapore Sevens.
And while it wasn’t quite the redemption they had wanted - injuries and suspensions hampered them after an excellent pool performance, there were shades of improvement under new coach Phillip Snyman.
The loss of Selvyn Davids to a three-game suspension for an innocuous head clash, which defied logic, hit the team hard.
But against Fiji, they looked tired and outplayed, and were immediately down by three tries after as many minutes.
Shilton van Wyk scored a scorcher of a sideline-hugging try and Kat Letebele continued to impress but the Blitzboks had no answer to the five tries Fiji put past them in the end.