Cape Town - The Blitzboks made it three pool wins from three to top Group A when they beat France 26-7 on Day 2 of the Cape Town Sevens on Saturday.
The South Africans, who won last week’s Dubai tournament after beating Ireland in the final, will now back themselves to make Sunday’s final, with Fiji and the New Zealand Sevens sides in the other half of the draw.
The Blitzboks will face Great Britain in Saturday night’s quarter-final, with a possible semi-final with either Argentina or Samoa on Sunday.
New Zealand will face surprise packages Uruguay in their Cup semi-final, while Fiji will face the United States.
France needed to win the match by more than 23 points to qualify for the Cup quarter-final themselves, but went behind early on when Muller du Plessis got the Blitzboks on the board with a lovely turn of pace to go through the gap. His dive was just as impressive
France replied almost immediately through Stephen Martin after a wonderfully worked team try, which included some great stepping and handling.
But the Blitzboks went into a 12-7 lead at the break when Dalvon Blood scored in the corner on the stroke of half-time.
The second half was a tight affair, with the South Africans conceding a plethora of penalties. However, France could not take advantage and Shilton ‘Chip and Chase’ van Wyk scored in typical fashion from a kick to give the home side some breathing space.
Van Wyk then sealed the victory after the hooter when Darren Adonis kicked one through for him to chase and dot down.
IOL Sport