Blitzboks hold their nerve to down Canada in Cape Town opener

The Blitzboks remained calm under pressure, took their chances and ultimately got their Cape Town Sevens campaign off to a winning start with a 17-7 victory over Canada in their Pool A clash at DHL Stadium on Friday evening.

Blitzboks down Canada

Canada had started very well and worked their way upfield in the opening play.

However, Canada turned over possession on the Blitzboks’ tryline courtesy of some great defence by the hosts, despite the concession of three early penalties.

The third of those early penalties proved costly as it allowed the Canadians to work their way upfield from just outside their own 22, and see Alex Russell score the first try of the match, which was converted by Brock Webster in the fifth minute.

Moments later, with almost no time left in the first half, Muller du Plessis got one back for the Blitzboks after another good run by Impi Visser, and it was 7-5 at the break.

The Blitzboks took the lead midway through the second half after some individual magic from Shilton van Wyk, who kicked the ball into the Canadian in-goal and followed up to score himself.

The conversion sailed wide but the next kick, the restart, was perfect as it just landed inside the field of play, with the Canadians leaving it to bounce straight into Ryan Oosthuizen’s hands, who raced away untouched for the home team’s third try with less than two minutes left in the match.

Ricardo Duarttee added the conversion, which was the last points scored in the match as South Africa got the win they wanted.

On Saturday they play Fiji at 11h19 and France at 17h00 in their next two pool games before the playoffs start.

Scorers:

Springbok Sevens 17 (5) – Tries: Muller du Plessis, Shilton van Wyk, Ryan Oosthuizen. Conversion: Ricardo Duarttee.

Canada 7 (7) – Try: Alex Russell. Conversion: Brock Webster.