SA face Samoa for place in USA Sevens final
Stephan Dippenaar puts in a hit against Samoa during the 2012 Tokyo Sevens. Photo by Getty Images.
South Africa will face defending USA Sevens champions Samoa in the Cup semi-finals in Las Vegas after they won both their matches early on Sunday morning (SA time).
Their semi-final is scheduled for 21h54 on Sunday and will be televised live on SuperSport 1.
Earlier, the Springbok Sevens completed their pool fixtures with a hardworking 15-5 over a tenacious Kenya, scoring three tries to one in the process to qualify in unbeaten fashion for the Cup quarterfinals.
A brace of tries by Chris Dry and another one by Philip Snyman saw the Springbok Sevens safely past Kenya, who last weekend lost to New Zealand in the Wellington Cup final.
South Africa then produced a good, balanced performance to beat Wales 26-0 to proceed to the semi-finals of Round 5 of the HSBC Sevens World Series. The Springbok Sevens will be hoping to repeat their Cup-winning success at the same stadium just two seasons ago.
Cornal Hendricks led the way with two tries – his fifth overall of the tournament – while Cheslin Kolbe and Warren Whiteley also added a try each. Kolbe and Branco du Preez (2) slotted three conversions.
Afterwards, Springbok Sevens coach, Paul Treu, said Samoa will be very tough opponents.
“It will be important for us to keep our focus and our momentum because Samoa is playing so well, they are the defending champions and have good support here in Las Vegas.”
Pool winners New Zealand and Fiji advanced to the other semifinal.
In the other quarterfinal action earlier in the day, Samoa beat Scotland 12-5, New Zealand defeated Canada 17-0 while Fiji edged the USA 21-19 in a thrilling encounter.
New Zealand currently lead the World Series standings on 77 points, ahead of Kenya on 56 and Samoa on 54. South Africa, Fiji, and France are joint fourth on 51 points.
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