The race for the Sevens Series title will go down to the final tournament in Los Angeles after the Blitzboks let a 17-point lead slip in the London Sevens cup quarter-final against Australia on Sunday.

The Blitzboks went into the London Sevens playoffs knowing that they needed to progress to the final to secure the Seven Series title. This was due to the unique ranking points system for the 2022 season, which sees only the best seven results from each team count towards the final standings.

Despite opening up a 17-0 lead in a dominant first-half showing, the Blitzboks struggled to adapt to the referee’s breakdown interpretation in the second half and Australia came back to claim a 21-17 win.

To add to their disappointment, the Blitzboks lost star player Muller du Plessis to a head injury in the second half of the match.

Du Plessis was on the receiving end of a high tackle and had to be stretchered off the field.

South Africa can only finish as high as fifth place in London and the race to claim the Sevens Series title will go down to the wire in the final tournament in Los Angeles in August.

The Springbok Sevens team will face Spain in the fifth-place semi-final at 3.26pm.

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