Brave Blitzboks reign in Scotland
29 May 2011
Sibusiso Sithole scored a last-minute try to secure South Africa an amazing 36-35 comeback victory over Australia in the Cup final on day two at the Edinburgh Sevens.
It was one of the greatest comebacks in the history of sevens rugby. If not, the best.
The wounded Blitzboks entered the Cup title decider without the injured Branco du Preez, Neil Powell and skipper Kyle Brown, who hurt himself during the semi-final against Wales. South Africa’s injury woes worsened when Paul Delport had to be stretchered off shortly before half-time, and Paul Treu had to call on his second last substitute Sithole to fill in.
At that point Australia were running riot as they were 14-7 ahead before Delport’s departure. Two more tries from Jonathan Lance and Henry Vanderglas on either side of half-time put the Aussies 28-7 ahead. Frankie Horne and Bernardo Botha gave the Blitzboks a bit of hope as they both crossed the chalk in quick succession, but Ed Jenkins made it 35-19 with three minutes left on the clock. South Africa looked dead and buried.
Then the unthinkable happened. Steven Hunt added a double to his first five-pointer to complete his hat-trick, which left the Blitzboks within touch of victory but with only 20 seconds remaining. From the kick-off, Chris Dry won the ball in the air and it fell to Sithole. The Sharks flyer burst down the right touchline and broke one tackle on route to the match-winning score.
The win sealed South Africa’s first back-to-back tournament titles in the history of the Sevens World Series and placed them second, behind champions New Zealand, on the overall standings.
Earlier in the day, South Africa overturned an early 12-0 deficit to beat Wales 21-19.
Welsh duo Alex Cuthbert and Kristian Phillips surprised the Blitzboks with a try apiece in the opening five minutes of play. Bernardo Botha eventually opened the scoring for the latter to make it 12-7 at the break.
Skipper Kyle Brown and Steven Hunt scored early in the second stanza before Paul Delport’s converted try sealed the win. There was late pressure as Cuthbert grabbed a brace, but South Africa held on for the win.
In the Cup quarter-finals, the Blitzboks rallied to a 28-5 win over Samoa.
After a scrappy start to the Cup quarter-final, Hunt capitalised on Samoa’s poor defence and broke three tackles on his way to the tryline. Cecil Afrika then dotted down for the final play of the first stanza, securing South Africa a 14-0 half-time lead. The game was sealed with tries from Brown and Sithole after the break.
Blitzboks day two results:
South Africa 28 Samoa 5
South Africa 22 Wales 19
South Africa 36 Australia 35
Click here for all day two results
By Gareth Duncan
68 Comments
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29 May 2011, 21:10 pm
@CoachPete(CoachPete)-49:
Agree, great backline.
Got to go for now, watching some nice tennis – Monfils (with the French crowd behind him) versus Ferris, great stuff.
I watched Djokovich earlier – he seems to be from another planet and unstoppable at the moment.
See you around.
29 May 2011, 21:12 pm
@Robzim(Robzim)-51:
Cheers Enjoy
29 May 2011, 21:26 pm
¿Ferris? joder tio es Ferrer, David Ferrer.
Ferris maybe the irish flanker
29 May 2011, 21:35 pm
Saag Jonker. Ebbo *******. Uncle Dobbin.
29 May 2011, 21:37 pm
Ebbo’s surname was Bustard. But replace the U with an A.
29 May 2011, 21:41 pm
well done blitzbokke!
man that final was exciting.
29 May 2011, 22:00 pm
ja nice.
seem to be getting better at 7s.
29 May 2011, 22:23 pm
Well done Boks!
29 May 2011, 22:38 pm
Awesome game,Well done Blitzboks
29 May 2011, 22:55 pm
Well done the 7′s Boks………..great stuff!
30 May 2011, 07:45 am
Bunch of Quotas!
30 May 2011, 08:55 am
I don’t think the Sharks playing the Cheetahs, lions and Bulls is a road trip.
30 May 2011, 09:05 am
These guys are finally doing what they werent for the last year. Fronting up and tackling and contesting fot the ball. ” amazing finals in a row that showed exceptional guts and character. Man couldnt be more proud of these guys. They hit their straps a bit late in the comp but I think they have earned massive respect on the sevens circuit now. Cant say enough about them. Bring Treu on as a technical adviser to the Boks for the WC now. Fantastic!
30 May 2011, 12:15 pm
This thread has turned into some naming names/tennis thread….*smh*
Blitzbokke well done boytjies,even though yal wont get yal just due….Sibusiso Sithole…beast….Would like to see him CC and Superrugby in next few yrs.
Sharks backline of the future-wish……
9.Hoffman
10.Lambie
11.Mvovo
12.Jordaan
13.De Jongh (hehehe)
14.Sithole
15.JP
PS:Paul Treu is a genius,will be SA version of Gordon Tiejens…
30 May 2011, 13:06 pm
@mshiniwami(mshiniwami)-64:
Not familiar with the Wildebeest players, who is Jordaan, is that Paul Jordaan?
30 May 2011, 13:09 pm
@mshiniwami(mshiniwami)-64:
Bru aren’t there any up and coming youngsters from Sean Everitt’s squad?
30 May 2011, 13:17 pm
@mshiniwami(mshiniwami)-64:
Compare that with this up and coming backline, no am not a WP fan!
09 Duvenaghe
10 van Aswegen
11 Engelbrecht
12 De Jongh/Bosch
13 Sadie/Whitehead
14 Poolman
15 Bax/Brache
30 May 2011, 19:36 pm
@mxhosa
I think this team is better
9.duvenage/groom
10.Van Aswegen
11.engelbrecht
12.whitehead
13.Sadie/Jdj
14.Brache
15.L.Cronje
good team with solid defenders and potent attackers and kickers.
Rumour has it that Paul Bosch is heading to France and Bax is in England with the saracens.He was a CC player at best IMo…
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