Blitzboks power Canada in Cape Town Sevens opener

The Blitzboks put on a sparkling display to defeat Canada 17-7 in their Pool A clash on day one of the Cape Town Sevens on Friday night.

The last time the Blitzboks were in action at the Cape Town Stadium was at the World Cup in September, when they were rather unceremoniously knocked out at the quarter-final stage of the tournament by Ireland.

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But they started this, the sixth instalment of the Cape Town Sevens, on much better note. The Blitzboks mixed brute force and finesse to flay the Canadians in the last game of the day.

Canada drew first blood when Alex Russell crossed for the first try of the game and Brock Webster was on hand to add the conversion for a seven-point lead.

Despite their strong defence, South Africa needed a spark on attack and it came from JC Pretorius, who made a solid run to get the Blitzboks over the gainline and on the front-foot, before the ball was swung wide to Muller du Plessis, who beat a defender on the outside and scuttled away to dot down.

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It was one-way traffic in the second half, with Canada not even getting so much as a sniff. In possession, Canadians worked the ball downfield, but sturdy Blitzboks defence resulted in turnover possession. Shilton van Wyk used his quick feet to dance his way out of their own half and out of trouble, before freeing up skipper Siviwe Soyizwapi down the right flank.

Although Canada scrambled well to get back to stop Soyizwapi, their defence was at sixes and sevens and van Wyk put in a neat grubber, regathered the ball and scored.

But the moment of the match was yet to come. From the restart, the ball looked to be sailing into touch. And the Canada left it, but it bounced an inch inside the touchline and Ryan Oosthuizen scooped it up to run in the Blitzboks’ third and final try of the game and the final try of the day.

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Cape Town Sevens scorers:

Blitzboks — Tries: Muller du Plessis, Shilton van Wyk, Ryan Oosthuizen. Conversion: Ricardo Duarttee.
Canada — Try: Alex Russell. Conversion: Brock Webster.