Heartache continue for Blitzboks
DAY ONE WRAP: New Zealand knocked the Blitzboks out of the London Sevens title and automatic 2024 Olympics qualification at Twickenham at the London Sevens on Saturday, beating them 32-21 on Saturday.
The defeat meant they finished the group stages of the tournament without a single win after losing to Great Britain and a draw with the United States.
They lost their final game against New Zealand after going down by 19-15 to Great Britain and drawing with the USA.
The Americans scored two late tries to draw 26-26 with the Blitzboks.
In their last game of the day the All Blacks raced to a 20-0 half-time lead thanks to a first-half hat-trick of tries from Akuila Rokolisoa and a Che Clark touchdown.
In other games the Canadians scored a late win to keep their World Series hopes alive.
Brock Webster’s late try and conversion lifted Canada to a dramatic 21-19 comeback win over Uruguay on Saturday at the HSBC London 7s, preserving the Canadian men’s hopes of escaping relegation from the World Rugby Sevens Series.
After a heartbreaking 24-19 loss to Kenya, thanks to an Edmund Anya try with less than 30 seconds remaining, Canada needed a result against Uruguay to stay alive in the four-team relegation playoff that is part of the 11th and final stop on the men’s circuit this season.
(Continue reading below…)
Not to be for the #Blitzboks as they are eliminated from the #London7s competition – more here: https://t.co/lrZezTvlGq 😔#BlitzIgnite #HSBC7s pic.twitter.com/WXc4LWw8nz
— Springbok Sevens (@Blitzboks) May 20, 2023
Kenya is in the driver’s seat going into its round-robin finale Sunday against Uruguay.
Canada trails the South Americans on points difference ahead of its finale against Tonga.
Japan, the 15th-place team in the standings, was relegated after last weekend’s tournament in Toulouse, France. That left No. 12 Uruguay, No 13 Kenya, No. 14 Canada and Tonga, winner of the World Rugby Sevens Challenger Series, in the round-robin relegation playoff.
The playoff winner will become the 12th core team on the 2024 World Series, while the other three teams will have to enter their respective regional sevens championships in order to qualify for the 2024 Challenger Series and climb their way back to the elite competition.
Japan is taking part in London as an invitational side in the 12-team competition outside of the relegation playoff.
The Blitzboks will play in a ninth-place semi-final against Japan on Sunday.
Results
Australia 33 – 12 Spain
France 21 – 28 Samoa
Ireland 12 – 33 Fiji
Argentina 43 – 12 Japan
South Africa 15 – 19 Great Britain
New Zealand 35 – 17 USA
Kenya 24 – 19 Canada
Uruguay 15 – 12 Tonga
Australia 14 – 24 Samoa
France 35 – 21 Spain
Ireland 40 – 7 Japan
Argentina 40 – 12 Fiji
South Africa 26 – 26 USA
New Zealand 20 – 5 Great Britain
Kenya 38 – 26 Tonga
Uruguay 19 – 21 Canada
Spain 17 – 40 Samoa
France 12 – 26 Australia
Fiji 21 – 7 Japan
Argentina 12-14 Ireland
Great Britain 21-19 USA
New Zealand 32-21 South Africa
Fixtures
Cup Quarter Finals
Argentina v Ireland
Samoa v Great Britain
Fiji VvAustralia
New Zealand v France
South Africa v Japan
Semi Final
USA v Spain
Canada v Tonga
Uruguay v Kenya
