Earlier in the day, the Blitzboks lost against Australia by 24-14, finishing second in Pool A.  The Blitzboks opened the scoring courtesy of Quewin Nortje, with Tristan Leyds converting.  

Australia then scored twice to lead by 10-7 at the break. Gino Cupido scored for South Africa in the second half with Ricardo Duarttee converting, but Australia scored twice more to outplay their South African rivals.

In their quarterfinal match, Spain started strongly and held a 12-0 lead going into the break. But the Blitzboks rallied to score two tries in the second half.  Impi Visser scored a converted try with four minutes left.  

Yellow cards

Spain then intercepted a Selvyn Davids pass, but a desperate cover tackle by Sebastiaan Jobb knocked the ball out of the Spanish player’s hands under the uprights to save a certain try.

Two yellow cards on either side of the break did not help Spain’s cause. Playing against six, Davids redeemed himself with a blindside break from a scrum and numerous passes, and a kick to Jayden Nell resulted in the try, which was converted by Duarttee with 90 seconds left on the clock.

The Blitzboks will now face Argentina in the semi-finals on Sunday (31/5) in search of a sixth consecutive tournament title. The match kicks off at 11:06 (SA time).

Scorers:

South Africa 14 (7), Australia 24 (10)
SA – Tries: Quewin Nortje, Gino Cupido. Conversions: Tristan Leyds, Ricardo Duarttee.
Australia – Tries: Harry Wilson, Henry Hutchison, Ben Dowling, Josh Turner. Conversions: Dowling, James McGregor.

South Africa 14 (0), Spain 12 (12)
SA – Tries: Impi Visser, Jayden Nell. Conversions: Ricardo Duarttee (2).
Spain – Tries: Josep Serres, Manu Moreno. Conversion: Juan Ramos.

OFM Sport/Ilse Smalberger dg