– Cape Town The Blitzboks’ Rugby World Cup Sevens campaign went from bad to worse on Sunday as they were defeated 26-19 by Argentina in the fifth place play-off at Cape Town Stadium.
The South Africans performed poorly against Ireland in the quarterfinals of the Championship on Saturday night, losing 24-14 in the day’s final match. They won their tournament opener against Chile on Friday evening.
The Blitzboks’ defense remained a concern as they lost four tries to the Argentinians on the third day, despite the fact that their offense had improved.
Luciano Gonzalez scored Argentina’s first try from the opening kickoff, and although the conversion attempt was missed, it didn’t matter as they scored their second practically shortly afterward.
Joaquin de la Vega scored their second for a 12-0 lead, and the Blitzboks finally scored when JC Pretorius demonstrated his speed and power (12-5).
Angelo Davids scored a try to tie the game at 12-12 at halftime, but it was the Argentinians who scored first in the second half.
Matias Osadczuk broke the tie with a try that let Argentina take a 19-12 lead, and while Shaun Williams added a try – which he converted himself – to again square the scores, Argentina had the ultimate and decisive say when González scored again.
Sunday evening at 6:15, the Blitzboks will play Samoa in the seventh-place playoff.
Point scorers:
JC Pretorius, Angelo Davids, and Shaun Williams have scored tries for South Africa. Ronald Brown and Shaun Williams both achieved a conversion.
Argentina – Tries: Luciano Gonzalez (2), Joaquin de la Vega, Matías Osadczuk. Conversions: Tobias Wade, Alejo Lavayen, Santiago Vera Feld
@WynonaLouw