Blitzboks home in on Sevens title

THE Blitzboks qualified for their ninth straight quarterfinal of the 2016/17 HSBC World Sevens Series in Paris yesterday and took a step closer to winning the overall title.

Playing in the last eight guarantees the Blitzboks a minimum 10 log points. They went into the season’s penultimate tournament with a 25 point lead over Fiji and now have one hand firmly on the trophy regardless of what happens in the knockout stages.

The Blitzboks will face surprise Pool D winners Samoa in the last eight, after the Pacific islanders topped the group over Fiji.

The Blitzboks, though, made a nervy start to the tournament losing their opening Pool A match 19-12 to the vastly improved Scotland. That result left Neil Powell’s men needing to win their two remaining matches against Japan and Canada.

Japan were comfortably dispatched 35-5 to steady nerves while Scotland overcame Canada 26-19 to ensure that the final Pool A clash was a straight knockout after Canada had earlier beaten Japan. The Blitzboks found their rhythm by the end of the day and simply blew the Canadians off the pitch, winning 31-7 after running into a 17-0 half-time lead.

“The guys were really disappointed with their performance against Scotland and were determined to fight back hard,” Powell said. “The game against Samoa is going to be a physical one. We lost the quarterfinal against them last year so hopefully we have learnt our lessons and will be 100% ready when we meet.”

The Blitzboks have appeared in seven finals of the eight previous tournaments, winning four, which has taken them to a commanding position on the overall standings.

They could wrap up the title today if they finish higher than Fiji and England, the only other side that could catch them on the standings.