The Springbok Sevens side produced their best performance of the Paris Sevens to dispatch Australia 31-0 and sound a warning to World Series leaders Fiji.
There was much more cohesion and better execution from the Blitzbokke in their final Pool C game, which secured them top spot in the group and a date with Samoa in the Cup quarter-final on Sunday (11.35am).
But whereas there were lapses in their victories over England (24-5) on Friday and Brazil (30-7) earlier on Saturday, the South Africans found their rhythm to put five tries past an Aussie side that boasted Wallaby wing Nick Cummins and sevens stalwarts such as captain Ed Jenkins, Cam Clark and young sensation Henry Hutchison.
And it was pleasing to see that Kyle Brown, who is not the SA captain in this tournament, played a valuable in setting up the opening two tries. It was his passes that led to touchdowns for Seabelo Senatla and Rosko Specman, although the two speedsters did use their “wheels” to finish off.
But Senatla’s second five-pointer – and fourth of the day – was all his own doing as he got the ball on his 22 and skinned Sam Myers on his inside to go all the way. That saw coach Neil Powell take off his most valuable player to preserve him for Sunday, but after halftime a Cecil Afrika tap penalty saw Specman take over the cudgels from Senatla to grab his second.
Francois Hougaard started on the bench, but proved that he was as sharp as ever when he rounded off from a Tim Agaba offload.
Senatla’s double takes his tournament tally to eight tries in Paris, but to a quite astonishing 62 tries, which puts him 22 ahead of American speed merchant Perry Baker.
“Eight tries is quite a lot in pool play – I’ve just been lucky throughout the whole weekend. I think the guys have just been putting me in space, and I’m the lucky one to dot the ball down,” Senatla said in a TV interview afterwards.
“But I think it’s a great ending for the boys as well. We always want to tick that box off of winning our pool and that’s what we did today. So, we’ve already ticked one box, and we have two more boxes to go. We’re excited about tomorrow.”
But it’s all about what happens on Sunday as the Blitzbokke chase Fiji for the World Sevens Series title. The islanders lead by eight points, and face Australia in the quarter-final after beating Scotland, Wales and Samoa in their group.
The Blitzbokke should fancy their chances of getting past Samoa on Sunday, but New Zealand are also strong challengers after squeaking past Kenya in Pool A with a 19-17 victory, as Gillies Kaka scored a late try to ensure that the Kiwis avoid in-form hosts France in the quarter-finals.
The French have been in inspired touch at the Stade Jean Bouin in front of a boisterous home crowd as they beat Canada, USA and Argentina in Pool D.
“I haven’t really checked that last (Fiji) game out, but Fiji always play good rugby and they are a team to be reckoned with. But if we can get our structures right, we are halfway there,” Senatla said.
“We all know that Samoa are a big, powerful team – they are very physical, so they will be coming at us at the rucks as they know we are smaller. We will look to counter that and use it to our advantage.”
POINTS-SCORERS
South Africa – Tries: Seabelo Senatla (2), Rosko Specman (2), Francois Hougaard. Conversions: Cecil Afrika (3).
Sunday’s Cup Quarter-Finals
New Zealand v Argentina (11.13am), South Africa v Samoa (11.35am), France v Kenya (11.57am), Fiji v Australia (12.19pm).
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