Blitzboks fightback stuns the USA

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The Blitzboks came from a 10-point deficit to claim a 26-10 victory over the USA in the quarter-finals of the Vancouver Sevens on Sunday.

With that, Neil Powell’s side beat the Americans in a playoff for the second time in as many tournaments. They will face either New Zealand – who claimed a convincing win over Fiji –  in the semi-finals at 00:14am (SA time) in the early hours of Monday morning.

Once again, the Blitzboks gave a demonstration of their fighting spirit as they found themselves 10-0 down after a sluggish start to the match.

The USA was quick to capitalise, to their credit, going ahead inside the first minute through Carlin Isles, before Danny Barrett took advantage of some slack defending from a cross-kick to dot the ball down.

Crucially, though, both conversions were missed and South Africa regained their composure, cutting the deficit to just three points when Werner Kok went in under the posts. Cecil Afrika then scored just before half-time, with Branco du Preez again the conversion to turn the game on its head and see the Blitzboks go into the break 14-10 ahead.

A quickfire second-half brace from the excellent Angelo Davids ensured that the Blitzboks would progress, leaving the USA with far too much to do in the closing stages of the match.

Photo: @Blitzboks/Twitter

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Dylan Jack