Rampant Fiji and ref combine to send Blitzboks crashing out of LA Sevens Cup playoffs

The Blitzboks capped a miserable weekend in California with a comprehensive 5-28 defeat at the hands of a rampant Fiji to crash out of the LA Sevens Cup quarterfinals on Sunday.

Already on wobbly ground after sneaking through to the playoffs the previous day, Sandile Ngcobo's charges had no answer to the attacking genius of Iowane Teba and a thoroughly wayward performance from referee Reuben Keane.

South Africa had started off relatively brightly as they kept their opponents pinned in their own half, but never really threatened the whitewash because Keane was suffocatingly stringent at the breakdowns.

It was ironic that Fiji's opener by Teba came after the Blitzboks had made another promising incursions, only to be pinged for holding on, allowing the devastating finisher to feast on a quick tap and floated pass to run down the left touchline. 

That advantage grew within no time when another quick tap and some trickery saw Teba barge over from close range, handing the islanders a handy 14-0 lead at half-time.

Jerry Tuwai's brilliant stepping had the Blitzboks grasping at air after the Fijians were awarded an early second half penalty, a try that immediately had even bigger implications because Ryan Oosthuizen had tackled an opponent high without the ball, leading to his sin-binning.

Demoralised, South Africa conceded a fourth try when Josua Vakurinabili ran in.

There was at least some consolation for Ricardo 'Tricky Ricky' Duarttee, who - after psyching himself up with a brilliant late defensive turnover - stepped left, right and left again to at least ensure the Blitzboks weren't blanked out.

They'll now face Samoa in the semifinal for fifth place later on Sunday night.