The Blitzboks beat New Zealand at the Vancouver Sevens on Saturday to finish top of Pool A.
South Africa, who had defeated Great Britain (21-5) and Spain (28-7) earlier in the day, scored three tries through Impi Visser, Shilton van Wyk and Siviwe Soyizwapi to take a 17-12 half-time lead against New Zealand.
The Kiwis hit back with tries from Rob Rush and Frank Vaenuku to make it 17-12, but the Blitzboks held on to set up a semi-final against Australia on Sunday at 10:33pm (SA time). Fiji face Spain in the other semi.
The #Blitzboks march into the Vancouver semi-finals after an unbeaten first day.#HSBCSVNS #PoweredByUnity pic.twitter.com/Zdgktnjjz1
— Springbok Sevens (@Blitzboks) March 8, 2026
Good defence laid the foundation for the Blitzboks’ success on day one. They missed very few one-on-one tackles, kept their discipline and outworked their opponents.
They were a bit slow out of the blocks in their first match, though, as they conceded a couple of penalties at the breakdown, but once Ronald Brown made a break to score the opening try, more fluency on attack followed. Brown’s opener was the only points in the first half.
Great Britain scored first in the second half, but the Blitzboks upped the tempo with several bench players making an impact, such as Ryan Oosthuizen, who alongside Van Wyk scored the second-half tries.
Against Spain, it was again a matter of patience. The Spaniards were full of running after a confidence boosting win over New Zealand in their first game. Brown again opened the scoring as he darted around the blindside from a scrum in the only points of an evenly contested first half.
The second half belonged to the Blitzboks as they tested and overcame the Spanish defence. Sebastiaan Jobb raced in from 70m following a great break and soon after Van Wyk dotted down after another good attacking spell. Tristan Leyds dotted down for the fourth try and converted before Spain scored in the last play of the match.
A great start against New Zealand sealed the deal for the Blitzboks. Visser scored after an impressive long-range effort by the skipper and Van Wyk followed soon after to extend the lead. A third try by Soyizwapi late in the first half pushed the lead out to 17 points.
New Zealand, having to win the match to reach the semis, rallied well in the second half, scoring twice, but some good turnovers by Selvyn Davids and Dewald Human eased the pressure and the Blitzboks finished the day unbeaten.
Photo: Grant Pitcher/Gallo Images
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