Ricardo duarttee blitzboks

The Springbok Sevens team have qualified for the Cape Town Sevens semi-finals with a quarter-final win over Great Britain. Photo: SA Rugby website

Cape Town Sevens: What time are the Blitzboks playing on Sunday, 11 December 2022?

The Springbok Sevens team have qualified for the Cape Town Sevens semi-finals with a quarter-final win over Great Britain.

Ricardo duarttee blitzboks

The Springbok Sevens team have qualified for the Cape Town Sevens semi-finals with a quarter-final win over Great Britain. Photo: SA Rugby website

The Springbok Sevens team – the only unbeaten side left in the men’s competition at the HSBC Cape Town Sevens – safely qualified for the semi-finals at the Cape Town Stadium with a 21-14 quarter-final win over Great Britain.

ALSO READ | GARY GOLD QUITS AS USA COACH AFTER RUGBY WORLD CUP QUALIFYING FLOP

The Blitzboks took revenge for last weekend’s pool defeat to the British side in Dubai, although they ended up winning the desert tournament, which means Saturday’s last-eight win was their ninth consecutive in the last fortnight.

Blitzboks v Samoa in semi-finals

South Africa will face Samoa in the second semi-final on Sunday at 15:46, and the first top-four clash is between New Zealand and the USA at 15:24.

The Blitzboks drew first blood when Ryan Oosthuizen scored in the fifth minute from a ruck turnover before they sent the ball wide, with the big forward racing 50m downfield for the try under the uprights.

However, Great Britain hit back after the buzzer, exploiting a couple of missed tackles with Morgan Williams’ converted try levelling the scores at the break.

Ricardo Duarttee restored the Blitzboks’ seven point lead with a great step and acceleration to score under the posts, adding his second conversion to make it 14-7 with five minutes to go.

But like it happened in the first half, the British soon hit back, again slipping past a South African defender out wide for a converted try to Femi Sofolarin with three minutes left on the clock.

Dalvon Blood then made it 21-14 for the Blitzboks with a great try out wide – brilliantly converted by Duarttee – after JC Pretorius and later Zain Davids made good ground with strong runs.

ALSO READ | CAPE TOWN SEVENS: ALL BLACKS HAVE DOMINATED IN MZANSI – ALL THE NUMBERS

Scorers:

Springbok Sevens 21 (7) – Tries: Ryan Oosthuizen, Ricardo Duarttee, Dalvon Blood. Conversions: Duarttee (3).

Great Britain 14 (7) – Tries: Morgan Williams, Femi Sofolarin. Conversions: Tom Emery (2)