Springbok Sevens to meet Spain in Hong Kong quarterfinals

Apr 7 • General News, Sevens Rugby • 1429 Views • Comments Off on Springbok Sevens to meet Spain in Hong Kong quarterfinals

The Springbok Sevens team reached their seventh consecutive quarterfinal of the 2017/18 HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series on Saturday after wins over Scotland (31-17) and England (33-15) in their pool matches of the Hong Kong tournament. They now meet Spain on Sunday for a place in the last four.

On Friday, the first day of the Cathay Pacific/HSBC Hong Kong Sevens, they kicked off their Pool C commitments with a runaway 45-0 victory over South Korea. Their victories over Scotland and England meant the South Africans were able to match the powerful Fiji side as the only unbeaten team after three matches.

Spain defeated Australia on Friday and also Canada on Saturday to clinch second place in Pool B and they will now meet the Blitzboks in the second Cup quarterfinal on Sunday. Kick-off time is at 05h42.

The young South Africans, with no less than five World Series debutants in the squad, delivered a strong performance against Scotland and their three second-half tries proved to be the difference. They led 14-10 at the break but managed to score three unanswered tries in the second half to pull away from Scotland.

The Blitzboks were on the back foot from the start when the English scored with the opening play of the match. They conceded another try, however, converted tries from Stedman Gans and Selvyn Davids gave them a 14-10 halftime lead.

England were also first to score after the restart and took a narrow 15-14 lead. The young South Africans kept their composure and replied with tries through Gans, Davids and Ndhlovu to secure their undefeated status in the group stages.

Stand-in Springbok Sevens coach, Marius Schoeman, was afterwards understandably pleased with them topping their pool. “We conceded some unnecessary points, especially against England, but it was mission accomplished as we wanted to top our pool,” said Schoeman.

Dewald Human, who is leading the Blitzboks in Hong Kong, said the team showed good character against England, when they came from behind to win against a strong opponent.

“We had to really dig deep today against two quality teams. We made some mistakes but worked hard to correct them and that is pleasing,” explained Human.”

The Springbok Sevens results on Saturday:

Scorers:

Springbok Sevens 31, Scotland 17 – Tries: Selvyn Davids, Marco Labuschagne, Zain Davids, Stedman Gans, Muller du Plessis. Conversions: Dewald Human (2), Davids.

Springbok Sevens 33, England 15 – Tries: Selvyn Davids (2), Stedman Gans (2), Mfundo Ndhlovu. Conversions: Dewald Human, Davids (3).

The draw for the Hong Kong Cup quarterfinals on Sunday (SA times):

04h58: Fiji v Argentina

05h20: South Africa v Spain

05h42: USA v New Zealand

06h07: Kenya vs Scotland