Second-half fightback not enough as Blitzboks go down to Great Britain at Twickenham

The Springbok Sevens side started their London Sevens campaign with a 19-15 loss to hosts Great Britain on Saturday.

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After trailing 19-5 at half-time, the Blitzboks produced a gallant fightback in the second period but ran out of time.

The Brits started like a house on fire with two early tries by Femi Sofolarin and Api Bavadra (12-0).

The Blitzboks hit back through a try by skipper Siviwe Soyizwapi, before speedster Sofolarin went over for his second try to see his side go into the break leading 19-5.

Three minutes into the second stanza, SA's Ryan Oosthuizen powered over in the corner after a strong run down the touchline (19-10).

A couple of minutes later, the Blitzboks were right back in it when Shaun Williams also darted over in the corner (19-15).

But with just over a minute left to play, Ricardo Duarttee made an error when he kicked the restart out on the full.

This allowed Great Britain to play down the clock to secure victory. In the end, two successful conversions by Kaleem Barreto proved the difference.

Later on Saturday, the South Africans will face USA (15:15) and New Zealand (19:33) to conclude their Pool A action.

The Blitzboks are enduring a horror season and currently sit a lowly seventh on the overall World Series standings.

READ | Dead in the water (almost): The Blitzboks' unlikely path to direct entry into Olympics

Scorers:

Great Britain 19 (19)

Tries: Femi Sofolarin (2), Api Bavadra 

Conversions: Kaleem Barreto (2)

SA 15 (5)

Tries: Siviwe Soyizwapi, Ryan Oosthuizen, Shaun Williams