Canadian rugby 7s men drop 30th match to South Africa in past 31 meetings

Canada put up some stiff resistance before dropping a 12-0 decision to South Africa in pool play Saturday at the Los Angeles Sevens in Carson, Calif.

South Africa has beaten Canada in 30 of the last 31 meetings, with the one defeat coming in 2020 at the Canada Sevens when Canada won 26-19 to finish third.

The Blitzboks, who stand second in the HSBC World Rugby Seven Series overall standings compared to No. 14 for Canada, have won the U.S. tournament five times although they finished a disappointing 13th last year.

The field at Dignity Health Sports Park was wet after a morning shower, making for difficult handling conditions.

A Jake Thiel try for Canada in the first half was waved off after video review showed the Canadian's leg was out of bounds before he touched the ball down.

Christie Grobbelaar eventually put South Africa on the board on the stroke of halftime after a linebreak by Ricardo Duarttee that started near the Blitzboks try-line.

Canada threatened midway through the second half, but the attack fizzled when it was penalized at the breakdown.

It’s time for more sevens!