Blitzboks' Olympic campaign hangs by a thread after opening loss

The Springbok Sevens Olympic campaign hangs by a thread after they went down 10-5 to Ireland in their opening game at the Olympic Sevens in Paris on Wednesday.

The Blitzboks could not argue that they were the second best side on the park during the game, though a controversial call ensured Ireland’s second and decisive try to killed off their chances.

It now means that their second game against arch-rivals New Zealand is a must-win affair if they are to progress to the semifinals, and they need to win substantively. With the winners and runners up qualifying for the quarterfinals of the three pools, only the two best third-place finishers will qualify. If the Boks lose to New Zealand they will need a big win over Japan and some luck to qualify.

A loss would end their campaign before the final pool game against Japan on Thursday, and could see them out of the Olympics before the opening ceremony takes place on Friday.

While Ireland had about 90% possession, the Blitzboks rallied late but ran out of time to go down fighting.

The controversial call, which came halfway in the second half, went against Ryan Oosthuizen as the referee called for TMO intervention for supposed foul play.

But replays showed the hit wasn’t high, and it was Oosthuizen who took the brunt of the hit in an awkward tackle. Nevertheless, despite the lack of evidence, it was decided that there was foul play and Oosthuizen was yellow carded and spent the final two minutes in the sin bin.

Shortly after the restart, Terry Kennedy wrong-footed the defence on the blindside and scored, taking his side to 10-0 up.

Selvyn Davids doubled with Rosko Specman for a late try, but the crucial restart after the hooter didn’t travel 10m and Ireland were let off the hook.

The Blitzboks were due to face New Zealand later on Wednesday evening.

SuperSport.com