Rugby
Blitzboks fall short against Los Pumas─── MORGAN PIEK 09:15 Sat, 25 Jan 2025
The Blitzboks fell short in their final Pool A game of the Perth 7s in Australia on Saturday, but despite the defeat, they had done enough to advance to the quarter-finals.
Argentina beat the Springbok Sevens 19-17 in a game of two halves, and despite a valiant comeback attempt, South Africa just ran out of time.
The defending champions in Perth, Los Pumas, raced to a 19-0 lead at half-time following three tries.
Mattei Graziano opened the scoring in the 3rd minute, and moments later, Los Pumas crossed the whitewash for a second time with Marcos Moneta dotting down. This time, Joaquin Pellandini was unable to land the conversion.
Mattei Graziano. Photo: X
To pile further pressure on the Cape Town 7s champions, Matias Osadczuk scored a converted try on the stroke of half-time.
The second stanza belonged to South Africa, with Quewin Nortjé getting the Blitzboks on the board with a 9th-minute try. A mere minute later, the Blitzboks found themselves back in the game with the regular captain, Selvyn Davids, scoring a try that was not converted either.
With less than half a minute to go in the contest, Shilton van Wyk went in for a try that was converted by Ronald Brown.
Matias Osadczuk. Photo: X
The Blitzboks needed to secure possession from the restart in order to keep the game alive. However, the referee deemed that the ball had come off a South African hand from the kick-off, although it appeared as if it may have been a knock-on by the Argentines. That brought the game to a close as the South Americans hoofed the ball into touch to seal their victory, bouncing back after their defeat to the USA on day one.
While South Africa are into the quarter-finals, they will need to be at their very best as they face Fiji, a long-time nemesis on the Sevens World Series.
The quarter-final is scheduled to kick off at 12:19. This quarter-final will kick-off at 12:19.
Scorers:
Argentina: Tries – Mattei Graziano, Marcos Moneta, Matias Osadczuk Conv. – Pellandini 2
Blitzboks: Tries – Quewin Nortjé, Selvyn Davids, Shilton van Dyk Conv. – Ronald Brown
Cup quarter-finals:
11:27 – Spain vs. Uruguay
11:49 – Argentina vs. Great Britain
12:19 – South Africa vs. Fiji
12:41 – France vs. Australia
OFM Sport/Morgan Piek dg
