Johannesburg - The Blitzboks are back! That is the great news for South African rugby fans after Neil Powell’s under-pressure team began the London Sevens in superb style, beating Argentina 26-19.
Powell had stressed the need for a good start after the failure in France the week before, and he got it from his super-charged men.
In attempting to arrest their alarming decline, the Bltizboks could not have had tougher opponents in Argentina, the rising stars on the World Sevens circuit and their chief rivals at the top of the World Series standings.
Their urgency was apparent from the first whistle and it wasn’t long before Dewald Human slipped through a Pumas gap in the defence for the opening score.
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The Pumas are a top-quality outfit and soon equalised but as half-time approached, Muller du Plessis scored a magnificent try when he twice hacked the ball soccer-style over 50m before gathering and scoring.
The Boks could not have started the second half better when from the kickoff, James Murphy cashed in on a Pumas mistake and scored in the corner.
Having a big impact off the bench! 👏
— World Rugby Sevens (@WorldRugby7s) May 28, 2022
Angelo Davids earns the @Blitzboks a crucial win at #London7s! 🇿![CDATA[]]>🇦
#ImpactMoment | @DHLRugby pic.twitter.com/uxzPU2yDxb
Again the Pumas retaliated with a try and then when the South Africans criminally made a mistake from the kick-off — their big problem the week before in Toulouse — the Argentinians scored to level it at 19-19 with four minutes to play.
And with two minutes to go, the ploy of kicking into the space at the back paid off again for the Blitzboks when Zayin Davids gathered to score the winning try.
IOL Sport