The Springbok Sevens romped to a 36-7 win in their first pool match of the Cape Town SVNS on Saturday morning in front of a rowdy crowd.
They ran in six tries and put in a clinical defensive performance to comfortably skip the first hurdle on their path to the semi-finals of their home tournament.
They led 24-0 at halftime following tries by David Brits, Quewin Nortjé (2) and Impi Visser, with the latter and Mfundo Ndhlovu adding further five-pointers in the second half.
The pace on Quewin Nortje 😤👟
📺 Stream #NGC2024 on DStv: https://t.co/0P0NNhnwKw pic.twitter.com/tLwsDaFnoB
A crucial crunch clash awaits against Argentina (6.41pm) for the top spot in the pool.
The shortened format at the Cape Town event will only see the four pool winners fight it out in the semi-finals, with no quarter-finals scheduled.
Blitzboks co-captain Impi Visser was a happy man after the victory, and said that they laid the perfect platform for the rest of the day.
Visser, along with the other forwards, were clinical in their defence, while backs like Dewald Human and Ricardo Duarttee led the attack superbly to find gaps in the defence.
The #Blitzboks are absolutely on fire in the Cape Town heat. They lead Ireland 24-0 at HT of their first pool match at #CapeTown7s pic.twitter.com/pHO6ISvghr
— Leighton Koopman (@Leighton_K) December 7, 2024
The Irish only fielded nine players and didn’t field any media questions, stating only that the players had a tough build-up week.
The team were apparently pulled down by a stomach bug, but nothing has been confirmed.
Visser added that even he was surprised by his two tries.
“I am not a regular try-scorer, but was happy to get a few of them,” he smiled.
First victory in the bag for the #Blitzboks, they beat Ireland 36-7 and will face Argentina later today for top spot of the group #CapeTown7s pic.twitter.com/v6FaAMhpUJ
— Leighton Koopman (@Leighton_K) December 7, 2024
“It shows the hard work the boys were doing. Usually, when the forwards are scoring tries, the backs are doing their job by finding space and beating defenders.
“But now it’s all about recovery and getting into an ice bath, grabbing something to eat, heading back to the hotel for a nap and then starting our process (in the build-up to Argentina) again.”
A bit more of a vibe now at Cape Town Stadium ahead of the @Blitzboks @CapeTown7s opener against Ireland at 11.44am 🏉#Blitzboks #CapeTown7s #Rugby pic.twitter.com/vfwvpTuBPQ
— Ashfak Mohamed (@ashfakmohamed) December 7, 2024
Points-Scorers
Blitzboks 36 – Tries: David Brits, Quewin Nortjé (2), Impi Visser (2), Mfundo Ndhlovu. Conversions: Ricardo Duarttee (2), Shaun Williams (1).
Ireland 7 – Try: Josh Costello. Conversion: Tadhg Brophy (1).