Blitzbokke ease into quarters in PE

PORT ELIZABETH, SOUTH AFRICA - DECEMBER 08, Frankie Horn passes the ball to Cornal Hendricks during day 1 of the Cell C Nelson Mandela Bay Sevens at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium on December 08, 2012 in Port Elizabeth, South Africa Photo by Mike Sheehan / Gallo Images

PORT ELIZABETH, SOUTH AFRICA - DECEMBER 08, Frankie Horn passes the ball to Cornal Hendricks during day 1 of the Cell C Nelson Mandela Bay Sevens at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium on December 08, 2012 in Port Elizabeth, South Africa Photo by Mike Sheehan / Gallo Images

Published Dec 9, 2012

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Johannesburg – Hosts South Africa stormed to the top of Pool A, securing a place in the cup quarterfinals in the third leg of the Sevens World Series in Port Elizabeth on Saturday.

The Blitzboks defeated Samoa, France and Australia on the opening day to go unbeaten in the pool stages, qualifying for the top-tier competition on Sunday's second and final day.

“We can be happy with our result on day one,” said SA coach Paul Treu.

“To come out here and give a performance like this on day one is just testament to the boys.

“Now we can hopefully take the momentum into day two as well.”

In their last pool match, against Australia, Chris Dry and Cecil Afrika scored tries in the first half to give South Africa a 12-7

lead at the break, and captain Frankie Horne crossed the whitewash shortly after the restart as they bagged a 17-7 victory.

The South Africans had been forced to fight back in their second match against France after their opponents raced into a 5-0 lead as early as the second minute. Cornal Hendricks scored a try late in the first period and Paul Delport dotted down in the second half to give the hosts a 12-5 win.

Earlier, Dry scored a hat-trick as the Blitzboks romped to a comfortable 29-7 victory over Samoa, who won the second leg of the series in Dubai, in their opening match of the tournament.

South Africa were set to face the United States in the quarterfinals on Sunday, in search of their first cup title of the season.

“The home crowd is helping and the boys are getting a lot of energy from the crowd,” Treu said.

“We can see so many people coming out to support the team. This is our one opportunity to play in front of a home crowd, and we would like to give them something to remember it by.” – Sapa

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