The Blitzboks will face old rivals Samoa in the Cup quarter-finals of the Canada Sevens after a clean sweep of Pool C at BC Place on Saturday.
South Africa made a strong start to their defence of the Vancouver title by beating Spain, Canada and Australia to top the pool and book a playoff against Samoa at 8.02pm on Sunday.
Coming off three consecutive defeats in Singapore last week, the Blitzboks took a couple of minutes to get into their stride in the sixth tournament of the World Sevens Series and even conceded an early try to a competitive Spanish outfit.
The reigning champs eventually stretched their legs for a 31-12 win against Spain, then conceded two quick tries against Canada in a 19-14 win and produced a late try against Australia to seal a deserved 22-19 win.
Spain, who scored a famous win over the All Blacks Sevens at the same venue three seasons ago, proved a handful, but also the ideal opponent to get the South Africans back to winning ways.
The Blitzboks kept their winning streak going in the second match against Canada, going 12-0 up at the break and in control as the host union made a number of errors in first phase play.
SA played a controlled game and after a couple of intrusive plays on attack, JC Pretorius was worked into space for a 5-0 lead. Ronald Brown scored a well-worked try just before the break and converted for a 12-0 lead.
Canada shocked the Blitzboks in the early exchanges of the second half, scoring two converted tries within a minute to take an unexpected 14-12 lead.
Despite missing Ryan Oosthuizen (calf) and Darren Adonis (ankle), the Blitzboks kept their cool and Selvyn Davids scored under the sticks to restore the lead. The SA defence then countered a last Canada attack to secure the win.
The final pool match against Australia developed into a real humdinger, with both sides scoring a number of long-range tries.
South Africa were on the board in the opening play, with Brown going over in the corner for a 5-0 lead. That was short-lived, though, as Ben Marr scored a converted try to hand the lead back to Australia. Brown got a second soon after Zain Davids ran strongly, but again the Aussies struck back almost immediately with a try that started close to their own tryline. This time, Matthew Gonzalez, scored and with the conversion, they had a 14-10 lead at the break.
The men from Down Under also got the next score, with Nick Malouf dotting down for a 19-10 lead early in the second half. Davids pulled once back with a strong barge and the conversion by Shaun Williams cut the deficit to two.
That was wiped out one minute from time with Pretorius scoring after a good offload by Siviwe Soyizwapi, and SA held out for a well-deserved win.
🇿🇦 @Blitzboks signing off on a super day 🖊 #HSBC7s | #Canada7s pic.twitter.com/zENiUeREll
— World Rugby Sevens (@WorldRugby7s) April 17, 2022
“Absolute raw power” 💪
Zain Davids powers over the line for @Blitzboks!
#HSBC7s | #Canada7s pic.twitter.com/p6Wqd4JIPb— World Rugby Sevens (@WorldRugby7s) April 17, 2022
The @Blitzboks know how to grab that crucial try! 🏉#HSBC7s | #Canada7s pic.twitter.com/Brqup9RAAy
— World Rugby Sevens (@WorldRugby7s) April 16, 2022
Photo: Don MacKinnon/AFP via Getty Images