The Blitzboks were in a tricky pool alongside Canada, Spain and Argentina and had to work hard for their three wins on Saturday.

After opening with an impressive 34-5 win against Canada that saw speedster Shilton van Wyk claim an impressive hat-trick, the matches against Spain and Argentina proved much more challenging.

Expectations of another commanding performance against Spain did not come to pass initially, with the first half passing without either team scoring a single point.

But the South Africans found their feet after the break, breaking their opponents' resolve with three tries courtesy of Dalvon Blood, Selwyn Davids and Shaun Williams.

As it turned out, they needed all three, as Spain finished the match strongly with back-to-back scores as it finished 19-12 to South Africa.

The final match against Argentina was also a closely-contested affair.

SA went into the break with a five-point cushion following tries from Dalvon Blood and Christie Grobelaar, but the South Americans hit back via a spectacular solo effort from Luciano Gonzalez to take the lead.

But the Blitzboks held their nerve and came up trumps via a try from Zain Davids to ensure they finished top of their group with a hat-trick of wins.

The Blitzboks move on to face France in the quarter-finals on Saturday, with the match scheduled to kick off at 11:58 SA time.

France advanced second in Group A after beating Samoa and Kenya but suffering a 26-10 defeat to Fiji.

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