Blitzboks falter against Argentina at HSBC France Sevens

The Blitzboks had an ideal opportunity to gain crucial HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series log points to move them closer to Samoa and Australia and into the top four, but the defeat to Argentina scuppered the opportunity.

"We let ourselves down with this game," said captain Siviwe Soyizwapi, who is playing in his 50th tournament.

"We had everything to play for and could have gained much needed points, especially as both Samoa and Australia handed us that opportunity, but we did not take it. And we only have ourselves to blame.

"It is frustrating, we did so well against Fiji and USA and that gave us a very good opportunity to get some valuable points, but then we didn't sustain the effort against Argentina. I wish I can lay my finger on why, but I can't to be honest."

The Blitzboks can get redemption at 12h48 on Sunday when they face Australia in the fifth-place play-off. A win will get them closer to that final qualifying spot, most likely to be confirmed at the HSBC London Sevens next weekend.

In their quarter-final, Argentina showed why they are one of the top two teams in the 2023 HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series by capitalising on uncharacteristic errors by the Springbok Sevens team to win their quarter-final by 21-12 in Toulouse on Saturday evening.

The Blitzboks could not replicate the form that they showed earlier against Fiji and the USA and came up short against the Pumas, who raced to a 21-0 lead before James Murphy scored twice late in the match.

The South Africans struggled with their defence and discipline against a team that had sealed their Olympic Games qualification earlier on Saturday.