Drama as Australia 7s loss hands Blitzboks World Championship title

The Springbok Sevens team completed a magnificent quarterfinal win over Fiji at the Bordeaux Sevens shortly after hearing they had won the HSBC World Championship and had been crowned the best Sevens team in the world.

Whatever happens on Sunday in the Bordeaux Sevens doesn’t matter, as the crown was handed to them when their nearest rivals, Australia, were whitewashed 26-0 by France in their quarterfinal, assuring the Blitzboks of an unassailable lead in the overall standings.

Back-to-back 🏆🇿🇦#Blitzboks #PoweredByUnity #HSBCSVNS pic.twitter.com/ye8QVRkFzy

But it wasn’t without drama, as the Blitzboks needed to sneak into the quarterfinals, thanks to a losing bonus-point try in their pool loss 15-12 to the South Sea magicians, and got that late in the game through Sebastian Jobb.

Without it, they would have missed out on the quarterfinals and had to face off for ninth spot, opening the door for Australia to swoop in and take the crown.

They also watched as Argentina missed out on the quarterfinals as well. Before the Bordeaux Sevens began, Argentina were just four points behind the Blitzboks on the standings and their nearest rivals.

But that losing bonus point try was enough to put them into the quarterfinals as the lucky third-placed side, where they had to face Fiji again.

Their standings lead was built on their World Championship win in Hong Kong - their first ever title there - and their second-place finish in Valladolid in Spain.

When Australia lost to France, their eight-point deficit in the standings meant they couldn’t catch the Blitzboks at all.

But then, with the World Championship title in their back pockets to add to their World SVNS Series title, the Blitzboks won a tense quarterfinal against Fiji, pipping them 14-12 with two late tries by Jobb after two tries by Fiji gave them an early cushion.

It was Ricardo Duarttee, who had an exceptional tournament, who put over the conversion to seal the win.

The fightback was exceptional and now puts the Blitzboks into a semifinal against France at 1:14pm on Sunday.

The Springbok Women’s Sevens team lost 17-5 to Argentina and will face them again in the ninth-place semifinal at 8:12pm on Saturday night.