The Blitzboks were bundled out of the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series Cup race by Argentina and played Australia in a 5th-place semi-final searching for some valuable points. Unfortunately despite a brave effort, Australia won 21-19 ending the road for the Blitzboks in Toulouse.
Mfundo Ndhlovu bounced off several Australians and scored the Blitzboks' first try of the match to take an early 05-00 lead.
A double whammy for the Blitzboks who stopped playing in anticipation of the referee stopping play. Australia took the lead following an Aussie try and Blitzboks' Ryan Oosthuizen was sent off with a yellow.
Shaun Williams received the final pass from Mfundo Ndhlovu to score the Blitzboks' second try with only six players on the field. The Blitboks deservedly led 12-05 going into the second half.
The Aussies responded immediately when they scored off the kickoff to lead 14-12, as the Blitzboks failed to secure the ball from the kickoff. The Aussies scored a third try with three minutes left to lead 21-12.
A kick up field from Ricardo Duarttee was collected by James Murphy to score the Blitzboks' third try to trail 19-21 and two minutes to go. The Aussies 7s win 21-19 to end the action for the Blitzboks in Toulon.
Scorers:
Blitzboks: Try: Mfundo Ndhlovu, Shaun Williams, James Murphy. Converted: Ronald Brown, Justin Geduld.
Australia 7s: Tries: Henry Patterson, Tim Clements, Maurice Longbottom. Conversions: Maurice Longbottom, Dietrich Roache.
Teams:
Blitzboks: Ryan Oosthuizen, Impi Visser, Christie Grobbelaar, Dewald Human, Mfundo Ndhlovu, Ronald Brown, Shaun Williams Replacements: Justin Geduld, Siviwe Soyizwapi, James Murphy, Shilton van Wyk, Ricardo Duarttee.
Australia 7s: James Turner, Dietrich Roache, Tim Clements, Henry Paterson, Josh Turner, Nick Malouf, Maurice Longbottom. Replacements: Darby Lancaster, Kye Oates, Dally Bird, Matthew Gonzalez, Nathan Lawson, Hayden Sargeant.
