The Blitzboks showed few signs of nerves in their opening Sevens World Cup fixture as they thrashed minnows Chile in the final match of the day in Cape Town on Friday to progress to the quarter-finals.

A 32-5 victory, after leading 17-5 at the break, saw the Blitzboks cruise past Chile, who had beaten Philip Snyman’s Germany earlier in the day.

Angelo Davids scored two tries, while forwards Sako Makata and Christie Grobbelaar as well as Ronald Brown and Mfundo Ndlovu also got on the scoresheet with one try each.

It was, on the whole, a dominant performance from the hosts, who used their defence and kicking game to good effect.

The Blitzboks will face Ireland, who knocked out England with a 17-5 victory, in the last championship quarter-final at 10.35pm on Saturday.

If the Blitzboks beat Ireland on Saturday night, they will face the winner of the first championship quarter-final between New Zealand and Argentina in the semi-finals on Sunday afternoon.

Other notable results earlier in the day saw Argentina beat Kenya 22-7, while Samoa thrashed the USA 40-12 and France needed a late score to claim a 19-12 win over Canada in the round of 16.

RECAP: Sevens World Cup (day one)

Meanwhile, the Springbok Women put in a brave and workmanlike performance, but were ultimately outclassed in a 29-0 defeat by world number two-ranked France.

The Imbokodo will be in action on Saturday morning, as they take on Japan in the Challenge Cup quarter-finals.

Photo: Ashley Vlotman/Gallo Images