LONDON – The Blitzboks went down 29-22 to Australia in the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series quarterfinal match in London, England on Sunday.
The South Africans were unable to get off to the flying start that saw them dominate their pool matches against Japan, Canada and Argentina on Saturday and found themselves 12-0 down within the first three minutes as Henry Hutchinson and Joe Pincus ran in five-pointers for the Australians.
However, some fine running and offloading by Ryan Oosthuizen allowed skipper Siviwe Soyizwapi to cross the Australian whitewash for a converted try in the fifth minute.
Two minutes later, the Australians defence was again put to the test when Justin Geduld finished off a move for the Blitzboks, but the Australians increased their lead immediately to 19-12, courtesy of a converted try by Matt Hood.
Hood got his second five-pointer at the start of the second half before substitute Brad O'Donnell took advantage of some hesitant SA defending with the score rocketing to 29-12.
This seemed to bring out the best in the Blitzboks as JC Pretorius and Muller du Plessis ran in five pointers to bring the South Africans within reach of the Australians at 29-22 before the final hooter sounded.