Johannesburg - The Blitzbokke won 26-19 in their final Pool B match against Keyna in the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series at the Allianz Stadium, Sydney, on Saturday, after trailing 5-0 in the opening minutes.
The Blitzbokke will face Argentina, Pool C runners-up, in Sunday’s quarterfinal round
Earlier, a six-try romp against Russia saw SA seal their second win of the day as the Sydney leg of the World Rugby Sevens Series got underway on Saturday.
The Blitzbokke opened their campaign with an early-morning (SA time) win against Scotland, Neil Powell’s men 33-7 to the good.
The good news was that Seabelo Senatla continued his try-scoring spree with a hattrick. The bad news was that powerhouse Kwagga Smith and captain Phillip Snyman went off injured with what appeared to be serious shoulder problems.
Last week, South Africa also faced Scotland and Russia in pool action before going down narrowly to hosts New Zealand in the final of the Wellington leg of the series.
Poor Russia must be wondering what it takes to score against South Africa.
In Wellington, they went down 54-0 and on Saturday they once again failed to get on the board as the Blitzbokke won 40-0.
An early try by Carel du Preez got them up and running and Cheslin Kolbe converted and then went over himself shortly afterwards.
Big Dylan Sage then went over down the left before Senatla invariably got in on the action after a sublime little chip-kick into space by Kolbe.
Halftime saw the Blitzbokke leading 26-0 and the crowd had barely settled into their seats after the break when it was again Kolbe who freed up flyer Senatla to make it 33-0.
Newcomer Tim Agaba was yellow-carded with around a minute to go, putting pressure on the Blitzbokke defence. But as Russia pressed it was good work by Roscoe Speckman who made space for Senatla to seal his hattrick of tries after running more than half the length of the field.
The Blitzbokke now face Kenya in the final pool match of the day at 10.05am (SA time)
African News Agency