The Blitzboks took revenge for their defeat to Australia in their round three match in Vancouver, beating Australia 17-14 in the HSBC SVNS Vancouver tournament. The Blitzboks will play tonight at 22:52 (SA Time) against Fiji in the Cup semi-final.
The Blitzboks started like a house on fire and scored three first-half tries by Ronald Brown, Ryan Oosthuizen and Shilton van Wyk. Tristan Leyds converted one try to extend the Blitzboks' lead to 17-00 at the halftime break.
A yellow card to the Blitzboks gave Australia the space they needed. Ben Dowling and Josh Turner scored tries during the final three minutes of the second half, and following a conversion by Maurice Longbottom, the Blitzboks hung on to win 17-14.
Scorers:
Blitzboks: Tries: Ronald Brown, Ryan Oosthuizen, Shilton van Wyk. Conversion: Tristan Leyds.
Australia: Ben Dowling, Josh Turner. Conversion: Maurice Longbottom.
Teams:
Blitzboks: Sebastiaan Jobb, Ryan Oosthuizen, Siviwe Soyizwapi, Shilton van Wyk, Selvyn Davids, Ronald Brown, Impi Visser. Replacements: Donavan Don, Tristan Leyds, David Brits, Zander Reynders, Ricardo Duartee.
Australia: Henry Hutchison, Ben Dowling, Matthew Gonzalez, Aden Ekanayake, Jayden Blake, Ben Dalton, James Turner. Replacements: Josh Turner, Maurice Longbottom, Hayden Sargeant, Sidney Harvey.