The Blitzboks still have a chance of snatching the World Rugby Sevens Series title away from Fiji at this weekend's London Sevens tournament.

South Africa are in second place on the series log, 14 points adrift of Fiji and seven points clear of third-placed New Zealand.

The Blitzboks can still win the overall series, should they be victorious in London and the Fijians falter in the pool stage, but that is not something coach Neil Powell is banking on.

'The margin probably is too big, but we will not lose hope or our desire to fight it out till the very last play of the season,' said Powell. 'Stranger things have happened in sport. We are not expecting Fiji to slip up, so we can only control what we are in control of. And that is our own performance and our own desire to be the best players and team we can be.

'The London Sevens has not been the happiest hunting ground for us recently, but it remains a great tournament. It is well run and the crowds are appreciative of good sevens. We have Samoa, Canada and the USA in our pool, all tough opponents. The Samoans will be full of confidence following their win in France last weekend and the Canadians are gearing up for the Olympic qualifier in Monaco in a couple of weeks’ time.'

Blitzboks Pool A fixtures (SA times):

11:36: South Africa vs Canada
14:46: South Africa vs USA
17:48: South Africa vs Samoa

World Series standings (top five):

1. Fiji 166
2. South Africa 152
3. New Zealand 145
4. Australia 127
5. Argentina 107

Springbok Sevens – (number of tournaments): Chris Dry (51), Philip Snyman (36, c), Tim Agaba (6), Ryan Kankowski (7), Francois Hougaard (5), Kyle Brown (55), Dylan Sage (6), Stephan Dippenaar (28), Rosco Speckman (12), Cecil Afrika (44), Seabelo Senatla (28), Siviwe Soyizwapi (2).

Photo: Roger Sedres/Gallo Images