Rugby 7 | Blitzboks lose World Sevens Dubai title
South Africa’s men’s sevens rugby team fell short in their bid to win the World Sevens Dubai title for a sixth succcesive year when they fell at the quarter-final stage.
They were beaten in the Cup quarter-finals by New Zealand, leaving them to play for fifth and sixth spot, against Olympic champions France later on Sunday.
The Cup quarter was a classic though with both teams in a position to win it with their last play, but where South Africa spilled their potential scoring pass, the Kiwis grabbed theirs.
With the defending champions trailing 19-17, but on the attack, a loose pass by Shilton van Wyk found a New Zealand defender and they turned that into a try, their first win over South Africa at this venue in almost a decade.
Quewin Nortje opened the scoring and Tristan Leyds converted for an early 7-0 lead, before Ngarohi McGarvey-Black scored and converted to level things at the break.
Nortje scored his second in the second half to push his side into the lead again, before Sofia Maka scored and McGarvey-Black converted for New Zealand to take a 14-12 lead.
That was cancelled out by Donavan Don, who scored in the corner with two minutes left, handing his side a 17-14 lead. McGarvey-Black scored his second though for a 19-17 lead, before the dramatic finale.
In their three pool matches Souyth Africa had beaten Australia 17-0 and France 24-19, but lost 22-17 to Kenya.
The next leg is in Cape Town this coming weekend.
