Double-try blow gives Blitzboks good start in LA

A double-try whammy in the second half gave the Springbok Sevens a morale-boosting opening win at the HSBC SVNS World Championship in Los Angeles on Saturday night, beating Olympic Champions France 19-10 in their opening pool game.

The Blitzboks were rocked early on as France dominated the first half, going 10-0 up with two early tries, but they fought back to ensure that no more points were scored against them as they overwhelmed the French with some exceptional attacking play.

Varian Pasquet and Simon Desert both scored early and it looked as if France had control, but some hard work allowed Selvyn Davids to scoot through just before halftime for a crucial converted try to get them just three points behind at the break.

The second half was a perfect example of poise, control and attack as the Blitzboks probed and probed, and then struck when they had the chance.

After catching France behind their own line, the ball was moved wide to Shilton van Wyk, who went over in the corner and two minutes later, they struck again, this time as Ricardo Duarte popped a perfect pass to a flying Zain Davids to go through untouched.

The crucial conversion by Duarte made it a two-try game and France tried, but never came close.

GREAT BRITAIN AND ARGENTINA AWAIT

The Blitzboks now face Great Britain and Argentina in their last two pool games. The top two sides in the pool qualify for the semifinals.

Kenya suffered a 19-12 loss to Samoa in their opening Playoff Championship game, upping the ante if they want to qualify for the newly formed Second Division next season. Kenya must finish in the top four to do so.

In other early pool games, Australia beat Spain 15-10, New Zealand got one over Fiji with a narrow 17-12 wi,n while South Africa’s biggest opposition in their pool, top seeds Argentina survived a second-half comeback from Great Britain to win 33-26.

In the Women’s Playoff Championship, the Women Boks got off to a good start, beating Ireland 12-7 in their opening game. Kenya lost to Spain in their opening game 33-14.