The Blitzboks lost 26-19 to Australia in the HSBC SVNS World Championship final hosted in Spain on Sunday afternoon.
The Blitzboks struck first with brilliant interplay between Selvyn Davids and Shilton van Wyk, who scored the opening try. Tristan Leyds converted to edge the Blitzboks into a 07-00 lead. A minute later, Australia again failed to control the kickoff and Sebastiaan Jobb crashed over, extending the Blitzboks’ lead to 14-00 after 3 minutes of play in the first half. Australia scored two tries during the final two matches of the first half, levelling the scores (14-14) at the halftime break.
A yellow card to Tristan Leyds made it easy for Australia out wide, who scored two tries, extending their lead to 26-14 with 3 minutes to play. A red card for Australia gifted the Blitzboks a consolation try; however, the two tries conceded when the Blitzboks were down to six players were the difference between winning and losing.
Scorers:
Australia: Tries: James Turner, Ethan Mcfarland, Ben Dowling, Henry Hutchison. Conversions: Maurice Longbottom (3).
Blitzboks: Tries: Shilton van Wyk, Sebastiaan Jobb, Gino Cupido. Conversions: Tristan Leyds (2)
Teams:
Australia 7s: Henry Hutchison, Aden Ekanayake, Harry Wilson, Ethan Mcfarland, Josh Turner, Maurice Longbottom, James Turner. Replacements: Ben Dowling, Wallace Charlie, James McGregor, Ben Dalton, Archer Saunders.
Blitzboks: Ryan Oosthuizen, Zain Davids, Impi Visser, Sebastiaan Jobb, Tristan Leyds, Shilton van Wyk, Selvyn Davids. Replacements: Quewin Nortje, Siviwe Soyizwapi, Jayden Nell, Gino Cupido, Ricardo Duarttee.
