Blitzbok player Shilton van Wyk with the ball The commanding victory will give the confidence of the Blitzboks a massive boost to as they leave for the USA for next weekend's SVNS Los Angeles. Seen here: Shilton van Wyk with the ball. Picture: Mike Lee - KLC fotos for World Rugby
The Springbok Sevens team outplayed Australia 24-7 in their ninth-place playoff clash at BC Place on Sunday evening (SA time), outscoring their opponents by four tries to one to finish their SVSN Vancouver on a high note.
The commanding victory will give their confidence a massive boost to as they leave for the USA for next weekend's SVNS Los Angeles.
The win was secured with a strong first half effort. Impi Visser, Shilton van Wyk and David Brits all scored tries with team pivot, Selvyn Davids, pulling the strings in all of these.
Australia did reply to the opening score by Visser, but from there on in, it was Davids and co in charge. The Blitzboks' 19-7 lead at the break was well deserved as their attack proved lethal and their defence forced the Aussie meltdown.
Rosko Specman scored the only points of the second half to secure the win. As much as they tried, the Australians could not find a way past a determined defensive effort from Davids and company.
Meanwhile, the Springbok Women's Sevens team will leave Canada winless after they dropped yet another close result, losing 12-5 to Great Britain in the 11th-place playoff on Sunday evening.
The result means that the South Africans - who suffered a rash of injuries leaving them with only nine fit players on the final day of the tournament - remained winless at BC Place and finished in 12th place at the tournament.
The first half was a ding-dong affair with both teams guilty of handling errors and it was no surprise that the scorers were not bothered at halftime.
Great Britain started best in the second half, scoring two tries for a 12-0 lead, but as in all other games, Nadine Roos was not going to be denied.
Roos, who scored in all four of their earlier matches at the tournament, did so in the final match as well, but it came too late to change the result.
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