Blitzbokke unbeaten on day one
by Brenden Nel 03 February 2012, 10:50
The Springbok Sevens team went through day one unbeaten to move into the quarterfinals of the Wellington Sevens on Friday morning.
The Blitzbokke followed up early victories over the USA and the Cook Islands to end the day with a come-from-behind win over England, and claim the top honours in Pool B.
In the process they conceded just two tries – both in the final game of the evening when they beat England 14-10 after initially falling behind.
The magic came from the steppers in the team – Mark Richards and halfback Branco du Preez, who used perfect broken-field play to step their way through tackles and score crucial tries in the second half.
Du Preez’ try was particularly impressive as he stepped two tackles, then handed off an England player before dotting down under the uprights.
England scored late in the game through Greg Barden to add to Tom Mitchell’s opening score and make the scoreline look respectable.
The Blitzbokke now claim a seeded place in the quarters, where they will face Fiji.
The Tongans were the surprise team of the tournament thus far, playing to a 14-all draw with Wales, before beating Fiji 17-14 in the shock upset of the day. In their final game they beat Argentina 24-14.
Earlier the Blitzbokke didn’t concede a point in their opening two games.
Paul Treu’s charges went in with confidence in their opening match against the Americans, winning 21-0 before following it up with a powerhouse 43-0 victory over the Cook Islands.
The American match had been a tricky one as they had employed the French 15s defence coach in their bid to outwit the Blitzbok attack.
But it wasn’t enough to stop playmaker Cecil Afrika, who scored a brace and had Steven Hunt join him on the scoresheet as the South Africans started strongly.
In the match against the Cook Islands, Afrika again played his normal starring role, and moved past 650 points in World Series with a try and three conversions as the Blitzbokke dominated the one-sided contest.
Speedster Cornal Hendriks dotted down twice, while Hunt, Paul Delport, Boom Prinsloo and Frankie Horne all scored in the seven-try romp.