Cape Town - The Blitzboks' Rugby World Cup Sevens campaign went from bad to worse on Sunday as they lost their fifth place play-off 26-19 to Argentina at Cape Town Stadium.
The South Africans were dismal in their Championship quarter-final against Ireland on Saturday night, with the hosts losing 24-14 in the last match of the day. In their tournament opener, they defeated Chile on Friday evening.
The disappointment continued on day three, and while the Blitzboks looked better on attack, their defence remained a problem as they conceded four tries to the Argentinians.
Argentina were out of the blocks quickly and got the opening try from the kick-off through Luciano Gonzalez, and while the conversion was unsuccessful, it didn't matter much as they ran in their second almost immediately afterwards.
Joaquin de la Vega grabbed their second to go 12-0 up, and the Blitzboks finally got on the scoreboard when JC Pretorius put his power and pace on display (12-5).
A try by Angelo Davids saw the scores deadlocked at 12-12 (half time), but it was the Argentinians who were first to pounce in the second half again.
Matias Osadczuk broke the tie when he added a try to help Argentina to a 19-12 lead, and while Shaun Williams added a try - which he converted himself - to again level the scores, Argentina had the final, and decisive, say when Gonzalez went over again.
The Blitzboks will play Samoa in the seventh-place playoff at 6.15 pm on Sunday evening.
Point scorers:
South Africa - Tries: JC Pretorius, Angelo Davids, Shaun Williams Conversions: Ronald Brown, Shaun Williams
Argentina - Tries: Luciano Gonzalez (2), Joaquin de la Vega, Matías Osadczuk. Conversions: Tobias Wade, Alejo Lavayen, Santiago Vera Feld
IOL Sport