Blitzboks stumble at the last hurdle
Home side fall at last hurdle after stunning build-up
IT came down to a touchline conversion kick, but the Blitzboks’ luck ran out as the ball sailed wide to give England a 19-17 win in a pulsating Cape Town Sevens final last night. Justin Geduld could not be blamed for missing the difficult kick after Werner Kok’s last-gasp try, but it was a match in which South Africa were seldom on the front foot and they eventually ran out of time and luck.
It was a disappointing end to a fantastic weekend of sevens rugby that has firmly entrenched the Cape Town leg of the HSBC World Series as a must-do tournament to rival the grand old dame of sevens tournaments, Hong Kong.
A capacity 110 000 fans poured into the iconic Cape Town Stadium over two days and the home team did their bit by making it all the way to the final.
In the end, they came up short against a better team over 14 minutes of breathless rugby.
The final defeat was the Blitzboks’ first loss of the season in their 12th match after they won in Dubai last week and their first tournament loss in South Africa for four years.
But the 19 points they earned for second place leaves SA on top of the overall standings on 41 points after two rounds.
England are up to second on 39 points with Fiji third on 32 points.
The 10-tournament series resumes in Wellington, New Zealand, in late January.
After topping Pool A with wins over Russia, the US and Australia, the Blitzboks thrashed Wales 33-0 in the quarterfinals and overcame New Zealand 14-7 in the semifinal.
England, who were thrashed 33-7 by New Zealand in pool play but made the quarterfinals and then dramatically beat reigning series champions Fiji 31-26 on the golden try rule to reach the semis.
They followed that with a comfortable 33-14 win over Scotland in the last four before raising their game to defeat a depleted Blitzboks in a showpiece match.
The Blitzboks went into the final without veteran Kyle Brown and world player of the year Seabelo Senatla who were both injured earlier in the day.
It was a blow to team cohesion and things became worse late in the first half when playmaker Branco du Preez was also forced to withdraw through injury.
England dominated the first half with their committed rush defence. England also ensured that South African ball carriers had only split seconds on the ball before being swamped by white jerseys.
South Africa opened the scoring when Chris Dry ran a good angle to cut the defence but England responded quickly through Richard de Carpentier.
From then on the visitors controlled the match.
England’s record try-scorer, Dan Norton, slipped over in the corner on half time to give his side a crucial lead going into the break.
A wonderful surge by Rosko Specman levelled the scores after Branco du Preez converted early in the second period, but when Ruaridh McConnochie put the English ahead with seconds to play the Blitzboks were all but done.
Kok scored with England down to six men, but it was so close to the touchline it diminished the chance of a dramatic extra-time period. Scorers: SA – Tries: Chris Dry, Rosko Specman, Werner Kok. Conversion: Cecil Afrika England – Tries: Richard de Carpentier, Dan Norton, Ruaridh McConnochie. Conversions: Tom Mitchell (2)