Baker breaks Blitzboks’ unbeaten run

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The Blitzboks will face old foes Fiji in the quarter-finals of the Singapore Sevens after their 36-game unbeaten streak was brought crashing down in the Pool A finale against USA on Saturday.

It was a deserved 12-7 win for the Americans, who punished an unusually error-filled performance from the South Africans, who came into the game with looking to extend their unbeaten run to 36.

The result means that the Blitzboks, already through to the quarter-finals after beating Canada and Kenya earlier in the day, will face old rivals Fiji in the quarter-finals on Sunday at 6:50am.

It was hardly an ideal start from Neil Powell’s side as Sako Makata’s missed tackle allowed David Still to give USA an early 7-0 lead. The Americans were all over their opponents at the breakdown, forcing the Blitzboks to give away multiple penalties.

Still, the Blitzboks had hope of snatching the match when Ryan Oosthuizen went over in the corner with just over a minute to play and Dewald Human converting to level the scores at 7-7.

However, as the game progressed into added time, USA snatched a winner when dangerman Perry Baker was unleashed out wide and had too much pace for the cover defence, scoring the winner.

Photo: Yong Teck Lim/Getty Images

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Dylan Jack