"Disappointed" Blitzboks finish on a high in London

As a result of their failure to win any pool games on Saturday, the South African team didn't gain automatic qualification to the 2024 Olympic Games and Blitzbok coach Sandile Ngcobo said they were bitterly disappointed with that.

However, the Blitzboks hit back with two strong performances on Sunday, beating Japan (29-7) and the USA (47-5), after their disappointing pool results on Saturday, when they drew one and lost two matches.

The South Africans started the day with a 29-7 win over Japan in the ninth-place semi-final. They looked composed and scored five tries against the Japanese team, with Ronald Brown grabbing a first-half brace.

Impi Visser also scored before the break to help the Blitzboks to a 17-7 lead, with Brown's second try coming late after Japan lost a player to the sin-bin.

Shaun Williams went over early in the second half but he lost ball over the line, however, a minute later Christie Grobbelaar made no mistake after a good chip from Mfundo Ndhlovu. Travis Ismaiel had the last say with his second try for the Blitzboks in only his fifth tournament.

Against the USA, they stepped up a gear and scored seven tries, with Grobbelaar grabbing a brace.

Shilton van Wyk and Ndhlovu crossed the whitewash early in the match, while Grobbelaar and Ryan Oosthuizen also added their names to the score sheet in the first half as the Blitzboks took a 28-0 lead.

Brown, Grobbelaar and Justin Geduld scored after the break before the USA got a consolation try late in the match.

Result:

South Africa 47 (28) - Tries: Shilton van Wyk, Mfundo Ndhlovu, Christie Grobbelaar (2), Ryan Oosthuizen, Ronald Brown, Justin Geduld. Conversions: Ricardo Duarttee (3), Brown, Geduld (2).

USA 5 (0) - Try: Aaron Cummings.