Brilliant Blitzboks too hot for Fiji

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The Blitzboks climbed to the top of their pool at the Cape Town Sevens, streaking to victory against rivals Fiji in sweltering conditions on Saturday morning.

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After trailing 7-0 early in the first half, the Blitzboks produced arguably their most impressive performance under new head coach Sandile Ngcobo to claim a 17-7 win.

The win sees South Africa move two points clear of Fiji and France on top of Pool A, with one more round robin fixture to play on Saturday.

The Springbok Sevens side showed remarkable composure and patience with the ball throughout the match, while they never seemed panicked on defence, even when Fiji made a couple of linebreaks.

It was through Shilton van Wyk that the Blitzboks got their comeback started. As he did in the opening fixture against Canada, Van Wyk toed the ball ahead and won the race to ground it over the tryline.

From there, South Africa were almost in complete control, taking the lead just before the break when Ricardo Duarttee put Muller du Plessis over for his second try of the weekend.

The Blitzboks dominated the gainline in the second half and forced Fiji into errors through some excellent defensive pressure, with JC Pretorius reaching over to ensure the hosts capitalised and secured the win.

The Springbok Sevens side will finish their pool campaign against France at 5pm on Saturday. The first round of Cape Town Sevens playoffs will follow on Saturday evening.

Photo: Shaun Roy/BackpagePix

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Dylan Jack