The Springbok Sevens team crashed out of title contention in Hong Kong yet again after a 17-7 pool defeat to New Zealand on Saturday meant they failed to qualify for the quarter-finals for the first time in this season's HSBC SVNS.
The defeat to the Kiwis meant the Blitzboks finished third in their pool. They bounced back by beating Uruguay 33-7 in the ninth-place semi-final and will now contest the ninth place against Kenya at 06h00 (SA time) on Sunday.
After losing to Australia on Friday, the Blitzboks needed at least a losing bonus point in their final Pool B match against the men in black, but they were dominated at the breakdown, on the back foot all match and never looked comfortable.
The opening stanza against New Zealand was even, but the South Africans' clinical touch was missing early on already. They twice spurned try-scoring opportunities, something the Kiwis did not do. Two opportunities on attack yielded two tries and at the break, the Blitzboks trailed by 12-0.
The second half did bring a bit more urgency on attack, but too often ball carriers and first arrivals were smashed at the breakdown, resulting in turn-over ball.
Any hopes of a comeback were dashed with four minutes to play when Amanaki Nicole brushed off a meek Ricardo Duarttee tackle, with the third Kiwi try giving them a 17-0 lead. A try on the buzzer, scored and converted by Donavan Don, was too little too late.
The Blitzboks recovered from yet another failed Hong Kong effort by beating Uruguay comfortably in their playoff match, which played out pretty much like their pool encounter on Friday, won 40-7 by South Africa.
Gino Cupido, who scored his first try in that match, got a double this time, while Impi Visser and Shilton van Wyk closed out long-range efforts after Uruguay spilled the ball on attack. The South Americans broke the green line late in the second half but were again outplayed by South Africa.
Scorers:
South Africa 7 (0), New Zealand 17 (12)
SA - Try: Donavan Don. Conversion: Don.
NZ - Tries: Cody Vai, Dylan Collier, Amanaki Nicole. Conversion: Ngarohi McGarvey-Black.
South Africa 33 (14), Uruguay 7 (0)
SA - Tries: Impi Visser, Gino Cupido (2), Shilton van Wyk, Dewald Human. Conversions: Ricardo Duarttee (4).
Uruguay - Try: Mateo Vinals. Conversion: Juan Manuel Tafernaberry.