Siviwe Soyizwapi scored a hat-trick of tries as the Blitzboks clinched a comfortable 24-12 win over Kenya in the quarter-finals of the Singapore Sevens on Sunday. CRAIG LEWIS reports.
During day one of this tournament, the Blitzboks suffered significant blows when star players Rosko Specman and Kyle Brown went down with injuries, and it means that a couple of their ‘next generation’ players will need to rise to the occasion again.
With that in mind, the composure and clinical finishing of the Springbok Sevens in Sunday’s quarter-final will certainly have pleased coach Neil Powell, with Soyizwapi particularly impressive out on the wing.
After overcoming Samoa, Canada and Argentina on day one, the Blitzboks made a strong start to their quarter-final when a beautiful pass from Werner Kok set up Soyizwapi to score early on.
Although Kenya did display some signs of their potential in the first stanza, the Blitzboks were simply lethal on the counter-attack, with Heino Bezuidenhout and Soyizwapi both dotting down before the break to open up a handy 15-0 lead.
Kenya were the first to score after the restart, but the result was effectively sealed three minutes from time when Soyizwapi dotted down for a third well-worked try.
The Blitzboks will now face arch-rivals Fiji in the semi-finals (10:50 SA time) after the Islanders claimed a thrilling 24-19 win over New Zealand earlier in the day. Australia and England will contest the second semi-final.
Photo: @Blitzboks/Twitter
