The 2016/17 World Rugby Sevens Series champions South Africa suffered a 17-12 Cup quarter-final defeat at the hands of England on day two of the London Sevens at Twickenham on Sunday.
The Blitzboks scored two tries to one to take a 12-5 halftime lead.
But the turning point came in the second half when Blitzbok star Werner Kok was given a yellow card for a supposed neck roll tackle at a ruck.
It appeared as if Kok had his hands on the ball when he wrestled the English player to the ground, but his time in the sin-bin proved costly.
It was all England in the second half, with Dan Norton and James Rodwell scoring two unanswered tries to advance to the semi-finals.
With the scores level at 12-12, the English broke Blitzbok hearts in the final play of the game as they surged upfield and out-flanked the South African defence, with Norton sliding in at the left-hand corner.
The incident was referred to the TMO, and Norton was awarded the try.
Earlier on Sunday, the defending London champs Scotland scored a sensational 24-21 quarter-final win over New Zealand, who led 21-0 at one stage in the match.
The result marked Scotland’s first win in 54 outings against New Zealand.