Home » Two Narrow Wins and a Loss (to USA!) for the Blitzboks in London

Two Narrow Wins and a Loss (to USA!) for the Blitzboks in London

The Springbok Sevens team on Saturday suffered a 24-12 defeat to the USA in pool A of the London Sevens tournament, BUT still achieved close wins over Kenya and Wales to progress to the Cup quarterfinals of the tournament, played at Twickenham Stadium. Phew! South Africa have made all ten Cup quarterfinals in the 2016/17 series […]

By SAPeople
20-05-17 23:06
in Eish!

The Springbok Sevens team on Saturday suffered a 24-12 defeat to the USA in pool A of the London Sevens tournament, BUT still achieved close wins over Kenya and Wales to progress to the Cup quarterfinals of the tournament, played at Twickenham Stadium. Phew!

A lucky bunch of South African expats met the Blitzboks on Wednesday evening in London at a charity event.

South Africa have made all ten Cup quarterfinals in the 2016/17 series on route to the overall title, secured last weekend in Paris.

They will face England in the last eight on Sunday. South Africa has played England 71 times, winning 36 and losing 34, with an average score of 16-15 in their favour.

England won the last encounter between the two sides, in Singapore last month 17-12. The last time they met at Twickenham, in 2013, England won 19-14.

Springbok Sevens winger, Ruhan Nel (who celebrated his birthday at a charity event for Joost van der Westhuizen’s J9 Foundation on Wednesday), said the match against England will be a tough one.

“They are always a formidable opponent and playing them at home will not make it any easier. I know how much we are lifted when we play in front of our fans in Cape Town, so can only imagine they will feel the same tomorrow.”

The Blitzboks achieved their immediate objective as well, so Nel was pleased about that.

“We did want we wanted to do and that is to qualify for Cup play on Day Two. That was first prize as we are in still in a position to win the tournament and if we stick to what we do well, we should be competitive,” he said.

Nel, who scored two tries as well, was pretty pleased about his century of appearances.

“It is already an honour to play for your country, so to play in a 100 matches is an even better feeling, I am truly humbled, but also proud. The fact that we won the match made it even better,” Nel said.

The Blitzbokke met with Tom Cruise in London – during his filming of the latest Mission Impossible, after winning the Paris Rugby Sevens (and the whole tournament!).

The Blitzboks scored close 12-10 wins over both Kenya and Wales in their opening two matches. In both matches, the opponents had the opportunity to draw the match with the final kick of play, but both times the conversions went wide and South Africa could walk away victorious.

Stats:

• Ruhan Nel played his 100th match for the Blitzboks when he took the field against Wales
• Cecil Afrika extended his all-time career points-scoring record to 1277 points

The Cup quarterfinals on Sunday are: (SA time)

11h58 USA vs Australia
12h20 New Zealand vs Scotland
12h42 England vs South Africa
13h04 Argentina vs Canada

Source: SARugby.co.za

Ruhan Nel celebrated his 26th birthday in London on Wednesday: