The New Zealand 7s convincingly beat the Blitzboks 32-19 at the HSBC World Rugby Sevens in London to progress to the Cup playoffs while the Blitzboks failed to qualify for the Cup playoffs and also failed to automatically qualify for the 2024 Olympics.
New Zealand 7s scored within the first 30 seconds of the first half and added three more tries with regular intervals to lead 20-00 at the halftime break.
The Blitzboks got their hand on the ball early in the second half with Impi Visser cutting through the defence of New Zealand 7s to score their first points of the match. New Zealand 7s added two more tries before Mfundo Ndhlovu showed some great individual brilliance beating several defenders to score the Blitzboks' second try. Two minutes later Ryan Oosthuizen added a third try to the account of the Blitzboks.
New Zealand 7s won 32-19 with the Blitzboks failing to qualify for the cup playoffs and also failed to automatically qualify for the 2024 Olympics. The Blitzboks will play Japan in a 9th-place semi-final tomorrow at 12:13 (SA Time)
Scorers:
USA 7s: Tries: Akuila Rokolisoa (3), Che Clarke, Xavier Harris (2). Conversions: Tepaea Savage.
Blitzboks: Tries: Impi Visser, Mfundo Ndhlovu, Ryan Oosthuizen. Conversions: Ricardo Duarttee, Ronald Brown.
Teams:
Blitzboks: Ryan Oosthuizen, Impi Visser, Christie Grobbelaar, Justin Geduld, Dewald Human, Shilton van Wyk, Ricardo Duarttee. Replacements: Siviwe Soyizwapi, Mfundo Ndhlovu, James Murphy, Ronald Brown, Shaun Williams.
New Zealand 7s: Scott Curry, Tim Mikkelson, Che Clarke, Sione Moila, Akuila Rokolisoa, Tepaea Savage, Xavier Harris. Replacements: Sam Dickson, Dylan Collier, Ragan Ware, Leroy Carter, Roderick Solo.