Last gasp Van Wyk try puts Blitzboks into Dubai final

A try from Shilton van Wyk a minute into injury time in their semifinal against New Zealand put the Blitzboks into the Dubai Sevens final against Ireland as they completed an exciting 26-19 triumph over their old foe.

It didn’t look like the South Africans had any chance of keeping their hopes of a fourth successive Dubai title alive during a first half that the Kiwis dominated. The All Blacks were out of the blocks straight away, with a series of explosive bursts and clever switches of direction eventually culminating in 19-year-old Caleb Tagintau going over in the corner. Tagintau then followed up with another try after some impressive running up the middle from LeRoy Carter, who was a constant thorn to the Blitzboks.

And the New Zealanders could have been even further ahead than 12-0 at the break as they came within a millimetre of scoring through Tagintau again, again after great work from Carter, but the referee adjudged with the help of the TMO that he had been held up over the line, with skipper Siviwe Soyizwape effectively saving the match for his team by getting in underneath Tagintau.

The Blitzboks got back into the game straight after halftime, with Muller du Plessis using his searing pace to round the New Zealand defence from the kick-off and then running the ball towards the posts to make the conversion easier.

With it suddenly being a five point game, the Blitzboks were re-energised, and after a brilliant bit of creativity from Soyizwape it was first tournament SA hero Ricardo Duarttee who crossed for the try. The successful conversion but the Blitzboks ahead for the first time, but were undone when a deft switch from the Kiwis deep inside their own half gave Akuila Rokilasoa the space he needed to run down the left flank to score a spectacular try.

The conversion made it a five point lead for New Zealand, so when Duarttee’s stepping set up Branco du Plessis for the equalising score, the conversion became all important with not much more than a minute to go. It was missed from a fairly kickable position, which meant extra time was beckoning. But when not long after that the All Blacks lost a player to the bin as they were guilty of repeated infringements as the Blitzboks put them under pressure with their attacking play, suddenly the game was there for the Blitzboks to win.

They showed great patience as they built up with their one man advantage, and after two penalties enabled them to keep their attacking momentum going, Duarttee was held up just short of the line a minute beyond the hooter and Shilton van Wyk was the man who was up to run the ball in off a quick tap for the winning try amidst scenes of South African jubilation.

Earlier Ireland had won their way through to their first Dubai final by scoring a try in extra time following a 7-all draw in normal time to secure a 12-7 win over the more favoured USA team.

If the Blitzboks win the final it will be their 10th Dubai title and a record fourth in succession. The team they beat in the semifinal is the only other team to have won the trophy in Dubai in the last seven years.