The Blitzboks claimed wins over Spain and Ireland to finish the London Sevens in fifth place on Sunday and reclaim a narrow lead in the World Rugby Sevens series.

Having suffered the disappointment of losing to eventual London winners Australia in the cup quarter-finals, the Blitzboks bounced back by beating Spain in the fifth-place semi-finals before securing a fifth place finish with a narrow 14-5 victory over Ireland.

While the Springbok Sevens side missed out on the opportunity to secure the Sevens Series title by progressing to the London Sevens final, they still managed to get 13 points out of the tournament and climb above Argentina on the overall standings.

There is one tournament left in the Sevens Series – Los Angeles on 27 and 28 August – and South Africa, Argentina and Australia will all be vying for the title.

Australia picked up 22 log points after beating to New Zealand in extra time in the London Sevens cup final. Argentina, meanwhile, beat the USA in the ninth-place playoff to pick up eight log points.

On the unique points system for the 2022 series, which sees only the best seven results from each team count towards the final standings, the Blitzboks currently lead the race for the title with 124 points, Australia are second with 122 points and Argentina are third with 118 points.

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