With the Blitzboks needing to at least reach the semi-finals to keep alive their slim hopes of Olympic qualification, their start at the Toulouse Sevens on Friday could not have been worse.
South Africa were thrashed 31-7 by the hosts France in a one-sided affair that puts them under immense pressure to qualify for the knock-out rounds of the penultimate tournament in the World Sevens Series.
France scored two tries in the first half through Theo Fornal and Jordan Sepho, with Paulin Riva adding a conversion for a 12-0 lead at the break.
In the second half, they added further tries from Sepho and William Iraguha (2), while Stephan Parez Edo Martin and Thibaud Mazzoleni landed a conversion each.
South Africa's solitary score came from James Murphy, with Ricardo Duarttee adding the extras.
It doesn't get any easier for the Blitzboks as their second and final game on Friday is against Fiji at 21:03 (SA time).
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