Cape Town - The Blitzboks chucked away a 19-0 lead in the first half, allowing the United States of America to fight back for a 26-all draw at the London Sevens at Twickenham on Saturday.
They are still winless in the tournament and will have to beat New Zealand later on Saturday (7:33 pm) to stand any chance of progressing to the knockouts.
It was a quick and brilliant start by the Springbok Sevens as they showed positive intent on the attack and seemed to have shrugged off the earlier loss to Great Britain.
But again, some terrible defence, and their inability to score more points led to the downfall of the South Africans as the USA fought back just before halftime, and towards the end of the game to draw level.
Christie Grobbelaar, Shilton van Wyk, and Dewald Human scored for the Blitzboks within minutes of each other as they totally dominated the opening exchanges of what was a crucial pool match.
Mfundo Ndhlovu twisted and turned his way through a couple of tackle attempts to score the fourth for his side, before Kevon Williams who was a thorn in the Blitzboks' side the whole game, and Pita Vi scored the two tries that levelled the game.
A win could've put South Africa in a position to qualify with New Zealand even if they lost the final pool game later on Saturday against the All Blacks Sevens.
Now they have to beat the Kiwis and will have their hopes on the USA to topple Great Britain, if the team is to scrape through to the quarter-finals in London.
Judging by how they chucked away the good lead against the Americans, the question is if they deserve to get to the playoffs at Twickenham.
Only a dominant performance and win against New Zealand will suffice, but that is easier said than done as the All Black Sevens are unbeaten and appear well on their way to another trophy in the series.
@Leighton_K
IOL Sport