Sevens World Series permutations: Blitzboks remain top but need 3rd place in LA to secure series

After their famed unbeaten streak, the Springboks have tailed off rather badly in the Sevens World Series.

After the excellent start that saw them achieve four consecutive first-place finishes in Dubai (twice), Malaga and Seville, they looked untouchable.

The re-entry of New Zealand from the Singapore leg onwards, along with Australia's consistency and Fiji's re-invigoration has seen Neil Powell's side struggling to keep their heads above water.

The 88 points gained from the first four tournaments have saved the Blitzbokke from what can only be termed as a meltdown of epic proportions.

Fiji, for example, has won two of the last four tournaments, with a second and third-place finish meaning that they have collected 80 points.

Australia has collected 66 points from their past four outings, along with their 66 from the first four tournaments while New Zealand has roared back in the last four outings with 58 points.

A caveat with the current sevens circuit is that because there are only nine tournaments, only the best seven results from the tournament will be used as the final points tally.

That means SA only garnered eight points from this round as the five points from the woeful Toulouse Sevens have been forfeited. 

SA's meltdown has brought the chasing pack back into contention and this is what they need to do to see off the teams behind them:

South Africa - 124 points: SA's excellent first four rounds of 22 points each means they need to finish third and get 17 points to be out of reach of Australia

Australia - 122 points: Australia's lowest rounds from Dubai (13) and Toulouse (10) means the latter one should fall away if they reach the semi-finals in LA. However, they'll need SA to flop. 

Argentina - 118 points: Singapore (13),