Despite losing 24-14 to Australia, the Blitzboks have qualified for the quarter-finals at the HSBC SVNS World Championship in Spain and will play the winner of Pool C at 17:11 (SA Time).
The Blitzboks had a dominant start, and brilliant work by Quewin Nortje edge the Blitzboks 07-00 into the lead following the conversion by Tristan Leyds.
Thereafter, Australia scored two tries in quick succession to lead 10-00 at the halftime break.
The Blitzboks had a great start to the second half, and Gino Cupido sliced the defence of Australia to pieces with brilliant footwork to score the Blitzboks’ second try. Ricardo Duarttee converted to edge the Blitzboks’ 14-10 into the lead with 3 minutes still to play in the second half.
Australia scored two late tries to secure a 24-14 win.
Scorers:
Australia: Tries: Harry Wilson, Henry Hutchison, Ben Dowling, Josh Turner. Conversions: Ben Dowling, James McGregor.
Blitzboks: Tries: Quewin Nortje, Gino Cupido. Conversions: Tristan Leyds (3'), Ricardo Duarttee
Teams:
Australia: Henry Hutchison, Ben Dalton, Harry Wilson, Wallace Charlie, Ethan Mcfarland, Josh Turner, Maurice Longbottom. Replacements: Ben Dowling, Aden Ekanayake, James McGregor, Archer Saunders, James Turner.
Blitzboks: Quewin Nortje, Ryan Oosthuizen, Impi Visser, Sebastiaan Jobb, Dewald Human, Selvyn Davids, Zain Davids. Replacements: Tristan Leyds, Siviwe Soyizwapi, Jayden Nell, Gino Cupido, Ricardo Duarttee.