The Blitzboks were again given a stern test of their credentials, but eventually prevailed 14-0 over Kenya to pick up their second win on day one and secure their place in the quarterfinals in the second of three HSBC SVNS World Championship events, at the Estadio Jose Zorrilla in Valladolid.
The Blitzboks will face Australia on Saturday afternoon in their final pool match to see who will top the pool, after both teams were unbeaten on Friday’s first day, with the South Africans needing extra time to overcome Great Britain 17-12, before picking up a hard fought win over Kenya.
Sebastiaan Jobb scored tries in both games and said that although they weren’t at their best, these kind of performances are important, especially when it comes to the competition knockouts.
“We are definitely happy. They weren’t our best two performances, but these are the performances needed when you reach the knockouts. So I am extremely happy because the guys really had to dig deep to get these wins,” said Jobb after the Kenyan match.
Kicking battle
In the game after a kicking battle to start the match that saw the Blitzboks and Kenya both hoof the ball down the field a couple of times, Shilton van Wyk opened the scoring by snaffling an interception in the Kenyan half and raced away for a converted score in the fourth minute.
The Blitzboks were however unable to build on their start, as neither them nor Kenya could build any momentum over the rest of the half, leaving the score 7-0 at the break.
The second half was also a hard fought affair and it took until the 12th minute for the Blitzboks to seal the win, just after a yellow card to Kenya’s Denis Abukuse for a deliberate knock-on, they found space out wide, with Riccardo Duartee sending a perfect cross kick to Jobb to sprint into the corner to score.
After winning the first world champs event in Hong Kong last month, the Blitzboks will be now looking to add the Spanish title to their list to strengthen their place at the top of the log.
Scorers
Blitzboks: Tries – Shilton van Wyk, Sebastiaan Jobb; Conversions – Tristan Leyds (2)
