The Blitzboks were made to work hard for their pool wins against Wales and Canada on day one of the Las Vegas Sevens.
The defending champions started poorly as they fell 14-0 behind to Wales, with Luke Morgan scoring a double.
However, the Springbok Sevens quickly responded through tries from Dylan Sage and Branco du Preez to level matters, before Siviwe Soyizwapi put them 21-14 up at half-time.
Wales’ Hari Millard made it 21-21 early in the second half, but a late try from Soyizwapi gave the Blitzboks a 26-21 win.
Later in the day, the Blitzboks made a great start against Canda as early tries from Cecil Afrika and Soyizwapi put them 14-0 ahead before Canada made it 14-12 with tries from Tevaughn Campbell and John Moonlight.
However, Sage sealed the Blitzboks’ second win after he bumped his way through Canada tackles to score in the corner to make it 19-12.
Injuries will be a concern for the Blitzboks. They lost Werner Kok to a tournament-ending jaw injury against Wales and Kyle Brown was forced off against Canada with a leg injury.
Their final pool game will be against England (Sunday, 00:10, SA time).
Photo: @Blitzboks/Twitter
