The Blitzboks finished second in Pool A on Saturday, with victories over New Zealand 22-7 and France 12-5 before going down 19-12 to Australia.

Standing in their way is their Fijian counterparts who are tied with the South Africans at the top of the log. Fiji lost their opener against Argentina (31-12) before wins over Great Britain 24-19 and Spain 43-12 to finish second in their pool.

The Blitzboks were flawless in their match against New Zealand, scoring four tries to New Zealand’s one.

France

The match against France was tight, with France scoring first, but tries by Tristan Leyds and Ronald Brown secured the win for Philip Snyman’s men.

Unfortunately, Leyds and Dewald Human suffered injuries which prevented them from taking the field against Australia in the final pool match. 

Selvyn Davids scored his 100th try in the series to put the Blitzboks up, but two tries by the Aussies had them in the lead at the break.

Photo: X/HSBC SVNS

Davids then made it 101 in his HSBC SVNS career, but a late try by Australia secured the win. The Blitzboks will play Argentina at 18:50 (SA time) on Sunday in the second semi-final, with Fiji taking on Australia afterwards in the other semi-final.

Scorers: 

South Africa 22 (12), New Zealand 7 (0)
 SA – Tries: Selvyn Davids, Sebastiaan Jobb (2), Grant de Jager. Conversion: Dewald Human.
NZ – Try: Brady Rush. Conversion: Sam Clarke.

South Africa 12 (5), France 5 (5)
 SA – Tries: Tristan Leyds, Ronald Brown. Conversion: Brown.
France – Try: Celian Pouzelgues.

South Africa 12 (7), Australia 19 (12)
 SA – Tries: Selvyn Davids (2). Conversion: Davids.
Australia – Tries: James Turner, Ben Dalton, Jayden Blake. Conversions: Dietrich Roache, Maurice Longbottom.

OFM Sport/Ilse Smalberger dg