The Blitzboks finished third in their pool and must rely on permutations to see if they will progress to the Bordeaux Sevens World Championship quarter-finals, following their 15-12 loss to Fiji.
They finish the pool behind Fiji and Great Britain, the latter shocking the South Africans with a 19-14 upset in the opening match of pool A.
The Blitzboks’ 26-5 win over Kenya was their only lifeline as they finished the pool with five points.
The poor pool performance could prove costly as South Africa entered the third and final World Championship event at the top of the table – two points ahead of Argentina and eight in front of Australia – following a title win in Hong Kong and runner-up finish in Spain.
Blitzboks fall to Fiji
The Blitzboks got off to the worst start when Siviwe Soyizwapi made contact with a Fijian player off the ball, earning a yellow card. Fiji’s Apete Narogo scored following a tap-and-go.
The South Africans responded when a Tristan Leyds offload found Shilton van Wyk, who dashed through a gap to score. Ricardo Duarttee’s conversion gave them a 7-5 lead in the sixth minute.
However, George Bose retook the lead for Fiji when he finished a good team move initiated by a powerful Filipe Sauturaga run. Terio Veilawa missed his second conversion to leave the score 10-7 to Fiji at the break.
Viwa Naduvalo scored Fiji’s third try from an overlap early in the second half. He dashed from his own 22 all the way to the Blitzboks’ try line. Veilawa again failed to convert.
A yellow card presented to Fiji’s Isaia Rugu gave the Blitzboks hope in the final two minutes. Sebastiaan Jobb was able to score on the sideline but Duarttee missed the conversion. The Blitzboks came close near the end but Fiji performed a massive turnover to seal the win.
Scorers
Blitzboks: Tries -Shilton van Wyk, Sebastiaan Jobb. Conversions – Ricardo Duarttee 1/2.
Fiji: Tries – Apete Narogo, George Bose, Viwa Naduvalo. Conversions – Terio Veilawa 0/3.
