BlitzBokke go head-to-head with Treu
South Africa will go head-to-head with their former coach, Paul Treu, when they meet Kenya in the Cup quarterfinal in Dubai.
The Springboks scored three wins on Friday to top Pool D and book a quarterfinal spot against Kenya at the Dubai tournament, Round Two of the IRB Sevens World Series.
Treu was shown the door by the South African Rugby Union earlier this year and took up an offer to coach Kenya.
SA outscored a powerful Samoan side by four tries to one in their final pool encounter to register a comfortable 26-5 win and book a clash with Kenya.
Kyle Brown, the SA captain, said the BlitzBokke did not always have things their own way.
"Things are so much tougher these days, you used to win two games and that would be it, now you have to punch all the way through and win that last game in your pool," Brown said.
"We're stoked to be in the quarterfinals and we'll give it out all.
"Whoever we play we will embrace."
In their two other pool matches earlier on Friday, the Springboks beat Argentina 17-7 and then swept aside Russia 34-5.
The first half against Samoa was a bruising affair but South Africa just managed to clinch the lead at half-time thanks to a converted try by Sampie Mastriet. Samoa hit back almost immediately to make the halftime score 7-5.
The BlitzBokke started the second half in much better fashion and Branco du Preez scored their second try after a good scrum effort. Werner Kok then crossed the line for their third try and his second of the tournament after a mistake by Samoa near their try line.
Speedster Justin Geduld, one of several replacements in the second half, scored their fourth try from a quick penalty tap to put the game out of reach for Samoa, who last year won the title after defeating New Zealand in the Cup final.
Against Russia, powerful running forward Jamba Ulengo scored twice and was joined on the scoresheet by Du Preez, Phillip Snyman, Mastriet and Kok, who dotted down for his first ever try in the World Series.
In their opening match, South Africa scored three times and Argentina once, although the South Americans enjoyed greater territorial advantage for much of the match.
Ulengo got the BlitzBokke on the scoreboard after he raced away from the defence to score in the corner. Veteran forward Frankie Horne doubled the score to 10-0 a minute later after he powered his way over the try line.
Argentina struck back in the second half with a converted try to reduce the difference to just three points at 10-7. However, clever play by Chris Dry saw South Africa stretched their lead to 17-7 after he took a quick penalty tap to score under the posts.
