The Springbok Sevens team on Sunday came up short in the defence of their HSBC Singapore Sevens crown as they suffered a defeat against Fiji in the Cup quarter-finals and Argentina in the fifth placed semi-final.
The close loss against Fiji meant that the Blitzboks failed to get into the Cup semi-finals for first time in 12 tournaments.
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Against Argentina, two yellow cards proved costly to the Blitzboks, who started the day without the services of the injured Sako Makata and Lubabalo Dobela.
Earlier on Sunday, the Blitzboks came desperately close to overhaul Fiji, but dropped a close 19-14 result which knocked the South African side out of a podium finish.
The Blitzboks only had themselves to blame. They conceded easy tries against Fiji, who scored in the third and fourth minutes to jump into a 12-0 lead, and again in the first minute of the second half after some confusion amongst the SA defenders.
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Zain Davids scored just before the break to cut the Fijian lead to 12-7, but with the early second half try, the men from the South Pacific extended their lead back to 12 points at 19-7.
The Blitzboks scored another converted try via Siviwe Soyizwapi, but in the final play of the match, worked Darren Adonis over in the corner. The TMO ruled that he was tackled into touch before grounding the ball and the opportunity and match was lost.
Scorers:
QUARTER-FINAL: South Africa 14 (7), Fiji 19 (12)
5th PLACE SEMI-FINAL: South Africa 15 (5), Argentina 22 (12)
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