Blitzboks’ downward spiral continues in LA
The Springbok Sevens’ nightmare run in the HSBC SVNS series hit a new low yesterday as they were doomed to playoff for one of the bottom two spots at the Los Angeles Sevens.
After a disappointing opening two matches where they lost to Ireland and Series leaders Argentina, the Blitzboks narrowly pipped outsiders Spain 22-19 in their final pool game, but watched the Spanish side go through because of their upset win over Ireland.
The two losses meant they missed out on the Cup competition for a second tournament in a row and had to playoff for the ninth-12th spot.
In their ninth-place semifinal, they were bested by a physical Samoan side, who had their number, winning 19-10.
Rosko Specman and Darron Adonis both scored for the Blitzboks, but it was nowhere near enough.
In contrast, the Blitzbok Women’s team are on course for their best finish in a tournament after beating Brazil and shocking Fiji to face the USA in the quarterfinals.
The Blitzboks followed up their 17-0 whitewash by Ireland in their opening game of the Los Angeles Sevens by slipping to another defeat, this time 17-5 to Argentina, that effectively put them out of the race for the Cup.
It looked good for SA when Specman scored a try after three minutes, but Joaquin Pellandini scored for Los Pumas to level the score at five all on the stroke of halftime.
Four minutes into the second half, it was Luciano Gonzales who crossed to give his team the lead for the first time.
A minute later, he made the game safe for his team with another five pointer to make it 17-5 to Argentina after another disappointing showing from the South Africans.
The final Blitzbok game of the day was against Spain after midnight SA time, but the Blitzboks are playing only for minor finishing positions from here.