Johannesburg – South Africa fell to Samoa and minnows Portugal as they were relegated to the bowl playoffs in the second leg of the Sevens World Series in Dubai on Friday.
The Springbok Sevens, who beat England in their solitary victory to finish third in Pool C on the opening day, will face Russia in the bowl quarterfinals on Saturday.
Facing Samoa for a place in the cup playoffs, the Blitzboks were outplayed as they slumped to a 10-5 defeat.
The Samoans romped to a 10-0 lead at the break, and while Chris Dry scored a consolation try in the second period, the South Africans went down in their second loss of the day.
Earlier, they had hit back to beat England after falling to minnows Portugal in their opening match of the tournament.
The Blitzboks raced to a 12-5 half-time lead over England, thanks to tries from Dry and Paul Delport, and while the English clawed their way back to within two points in the second period, Stephan Dippenaar dotted down with less than two minutes left to secure a 19-10 win.
In their tournament opener, Portugal had taken a 7-0 advantage into the interval, and while Dry, who dotted down in all three pool matches, and Philip Snyman scored in the second half to put South Africa in front, Aderito Esteves went over in injury time to hand the Portuguese a surprise 12-10 victory. – Sapa