Blitzboks finish FOURTH at Perth Sevens after shock loss to Spain

Yesterday at 02:40 PM

The Springbok Sevens finished the HSBC SVNS Perth in fourth place after two defeats on Sunday, the third day of the Australian tournament.

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Spain defeated South Africa 14-7 in the bronze final after the Blitzboks also came up short 17-12 against Australia in their semi-final, a match that went into extra-time.

The defeat against Spain was a disappointing result given the comeback showed by the team in green and gold.

It was tight in the first half, but two yellow cards in short succession had the Blitzboks on the ropes.

First Shilton van Wyk was carded and Ronald Brown followed less than 30 seconds later, for trying to intercept a pass and kicking the ball away after a penalty call respectively.

Spain took full advantage, with Eduardo Lopez scoring shortly after, but great defence by the remaining five players held the Spanish at bay for the remainder of the half.

The Blitzboks were already without injured Zane Davids, Zander Reynders and Dewald Human for their final match, but they kept fighting.

Selvyn Davids scored South Africa’s first try midway through the second half after a great break and when Brown converted it was all square again.

Spain got the final try though, with Juan Ramos running into a gap close to the referee to score and convert.

The Blitzboks had one more chance to score but kicked ahead and the bounce denied them.

Dramatic match

The extra time semi-final defeat to Australia was a dramatic match. 

It was a tough loss for the Blitzboks as they were penalised nine times to three which robbed them of a lot of momentum.

Australia struck first, scoring a try out wide through James Turner, but the response by the Blitzboks was swift.

Selvyn Davids set off on a long run and after delightful interplay with Brown, he scored under the sticks.

Brown converted to level the scores a 7-7, which was also the half-time score.

Selvyn Davids was at it again early in the second half. Quewin Nortje won a turn-over and when the ball was moved wide, Davids scored in the corner to give SA a 12-7 lead.

The Aussies came back with a try in the final minute, but it was controversial with a potential knock-on by Sidney Harvey before he dotted down.

The conversion was wide, but Australia had another chance to seal the win after a penalty in front of the SA poles.

Maurice Longbottom missed the attempt at goal and extra-time was called.

The extra time was one-way traffic as the Blitzboks fell afoul of a number of penalties, adding to the Aussie momentum and after Ryan Oosthuizen was yellow carded for trying to intercept a pass, the home side secured their finals spot with a try by Aden Ekanayake in the 16th minute of play.

Scorers:

Blitzboks 12-17 Australia
Blitzboks – Tries: Selvyn Davids (2). Conversion: Ronald Brown
Australia – Tries: James Turner, Sidney Harvey, Aden Ekanayake. Conversion: Hayden Sargeant

Blitzboks 7-14 Spain
Blitzboks – Try: Selvyn Davids. Conversion: Ronald Brown
Spain – Tries: Eduardo Lopez, Juan Ramos. Conversions: Jaime Manteca (2)

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