Blitzboks, beaten by Samoa, fail to make quarter-finals for the first time since 2013

The Springbok Sevens team were knocked out of the Toulouse Sevens tournament after failing to make the quarter-finals for the first time since 2013 in Hong Kong following a 19-7 defeat to Samoa.

Head coach Neil Powell's team came into the game needing to win to make the last eight after losing their opening game 21-12 to Ireland and then beating Spain on Friday. 

The pressure was on but the Blitzboks got off to a terrible start after Samoa's Vaa Apelu Maliko scored two quick tries in the space of a minute and raced to a 12-0 lead.

South Africa battled to get a hold of consistent possession and when they had a good chance Zain Daivids spilt the pass close to the try line under tackle pressure.

Then, Steve Onosai produced a magnificent solo effort immediately after the missed SA chance after chipping and chasing, putting a grubber through before collecting to round off the 100m move.

At 19-0 at half-time, it looked like South Africa would need another miracle comeback to rescue their tournament.

Samoa maintained their staunch defence at the start of the second half as they gave SA very little by way of an opportunity to cause a stunning comeback.

With the clock ticking agonisingly away, substitute Ronald Brown found a breakthrough from a 5m scrum, which he quickly converted with less than three minutes left.

However, the Blitzboks failed to find another way through the blue Samoan wall and succumbed to the 19-7 defeat that consigned them to third in Pool D behind leaders Samoa and second-placed Ireland.

The SA men's team lead the HSBC World Sevens Series by just six points on 111 ahead of Argentina (105) in second and third-placed Australia (100).