Blitzboks in cruise mode, storm into last eight
dubai — South Africa set their Emirates Airline Dubai Rugby Sevens title defence in motion by winning all their three Pool A fixtures on Friday night.
The Blitzboks, who had mastered Fiji to win the final here last year, eased past Uganda, Kenya and Canada to top their Pool and punch their ticket to the Cup quarterfinal.
In their last fixture of the night at The Sevens Stadium, Branco Du Preez had a hat trick of conversions as South Africa blanked Canada 28-0.
The Blitzboks will take on Samoa in the last eight on Saturday.
Earlier, the Blitzboks had begun by working off Uganda 19-10. And as the day wore on, the South Africans smashed Kenya out of the park with a 48-5 scoreline.
Meanwhile, in Pool C, last year’s runners-up Fiji were up and running with a 50-7 victory over Russia before beating Wales 21-7. They then finished their pool engagements with a 26-19 win over Australia.
Fiji had finished third in the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series last year. Matches across the three days of the tournament
Meanwhile, England, third here last year and runners-up to South Africa in the Series last season, started with a 28-0 win over Spain but were put to the test by France.
The side, captained by Tom Mitchell, nicked the win against the French 14-12.
Samoa, Fiji, New Zealand and Australia were sides to make the cut early on, for the quarterfinals. After going down to New Zealand 24-12, Samoa rallied in the next game to beat the USA 26-14. They then went on to beat Argentina 22-12.
Meanwhile, New Zealand defeated Samoa, Argentina and the USA. The All Blacks Sevens captain Scott Curry was pleased with the showing on Friday but added that they still are a work in progress.
“Yeah, really happy with three wins,” said Curry.
South Africa sizzle
Kenya beat Canada 29-15; South Africa beat Uganda 19-10; Canada beat Uganda 22-17; South Africa beat Kenya 48-5; Kenya beat Uganda 29-14; South Africa beat Canada 28-0.
Scotland beat France 2614; England beat Spain 28-0; Scotland beat Spain 26-21; England beat France 14-12. Pool C: Australia beat Wales 387; Fiji beat Russia 50-7; Australia beat Russia 47-0; Fiji beat Wales 21-7; Wales beat Russia 29-5; Fiji beat Australia 26-19. Pool D: Argentina beat USA 22-14; New Zealand beat Samoa 24-12; Samoa beat USA 26-14; New Zealand beat Argentina 21-19; Samoa beat Argentina 22-12; New Zealand beat USA 22-12.
“Obviously, there is still a lot of stuff we can improve on, which is promising. I think probably as a team, we are operating at about 60 percent so, it is exciting for us as a team. For us, it is all about effort. The boys showed in the three games. We had to fight really hard to beat Samoa and Argentina. And even the USA, they really pushed us there,” he added.