Cape Town — The Springbok Sevens side achieved a clean sweep on Day One of the Dubai Sevens to finish top of their pool and book a quarter-final spot.
The Blitzboks went into the opening tournament of the 2022 World Sevens Series as defending champions after claiming the top podium spot at both the Vancouver and Edmonton events.
In their third game on Friday, the Blitzboks overcame a rather slow start to eventually thump Great Britain 31-12 in their pool decider.
Robbie Fergusson got the first try for Great Britain, but the Blitzboks got right back into it with tries by Muller du Plessis – who was stretchered off the field before the break - and Siviwe Soyizwapi to take the lead and hand them a 12-5 lead at the break.
Great Britain levelled the scores early in the second half, but the Blitzboks ran in three more tries by Impi Visser, Soyizwapi and Branco du Preez to bag the win.
In their second match of the day, the South Africans swept Japan aside and cruised to a 52-12 victory.
Neil Powell’s team led 26-7 at half-time, and Siviwe Soyizwapi and Selvyn Davids bagged a brace of tries each, while Muller du Plessis, Christie Grobbelaar, Zain Davids and Shaun Williams all crossed the tryline.
Earlier on Friday, the Blitzboks produced a clinical performance to secure a 28-7 win over Ireland in the first match of the day.
Davids visited the opposition’s in-goal twice in the first half to give the Blitzboks a 14-0 lead early on, and two second-half tries by Ronald Brown helped them to victory as they extended the unbeaten run they started in Canada.
Sean Cribbin grabbed a late try to hand Ireland their sole five-pointer, but the Blitzboks proved too strong in their first match of the new season.
In Saturday's Cup quarter-finals, the South Africans will face the runners-up in Pool A, which will be either Australia or Fiji (08h50 SA time).
Scorers:
GAME 1
Springbok Sevens – 28: Tries: Selvyn Davids (2), Ronald Brown (2). Conversions: Brown (4).
Ireland – 7: Try: Sean Cribbin. Conversion: Cribbin.
GAME 2
Springbok Sevens – 52: Tries: Muller du Plessis, Selvyn Davids (2), Siviwe Soyizwapi (2), Zain Davids, Christie Grobbelaar, Shaun Williams. Conversions: Ronald Brown (5), Branco du Preez.
Japan – 12: Tries: Netani Vakayalia, Tomoya Yamamura. Conversion: Ryota Kano.
GAME 3
Springbok Sevens – 31: Tries: Muller du Plessis, Siviwe Soyizwapi (2), Impi Visser, Branco du Preez. Conversions: Ronald Brown (3).
Great Britain – 12: Tries: Robbie Fergusson, Ross McCann. Conversion: Frederick Roddick.
IOL Sport