The fairytale is over at the Sevens World Cup where the Blitzboks crashed out of the quarter-finals, beaten 24-14 by Ireland in Saturday's main event at Cape Town Stadium.Having had to wait 27 hours for their second fixture of the weekend after beating Chile on Friday night, the South Africans put up an awful display when it mattered most by their usually high standards.
Ireland will now meet New Zealand in the first semi-final, while Australia and Fiji will contest the other. With fans starting to leave the venue before the final whistle, this was far from the send-off the Blitzboks wanted for long-serving coach Neil Powell.
Powell, who has been in the system for 15 years and served as coach for nine, is on his way to Durban to take up the director of rugby position at the Sharks.The hope was that he would finish his tenure as a World Cup winner, but the Blitzboks will now meet Argentina on Sunday and can finish 5th at best.
By the time the Blitzboks took to the field, Cape Town Stadium was rocking. Some had been here since early morning, waiting over 12 hours to watch their team play.