The Blitzboks overturned an early second-half deficit to beat Spain in their opening match of the Perth Sevens on Saturday.
Philip Snyman’s men fought back from 14-12 down at HBF Park to triumph 33-14.
The Blitzboks started strongly and from a scrum in the second minute, Tristan Leyds put Shilton van Wyk into the gap to race through from the 22m line and score under the posts. Ricardo Duarttee landed the conversion.
Van Wyk then almost grabbed a second two minutes later but was hauled in just short of the line. South Africa swung the ball wide to the opposite flank where David Britz crossed unopposed.
But Spain came back strongly and wave after wave of attack finally saw the Blitzboks defence cracked and Jeremy Trevithick scampered through under the posts as the hooter sounded. A conversion by Juan Ramos saw Spain back to within a score at half-time.
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Spain started the second stanza as they had finished the first, on the attack, and within two minutes Trevithick was over again in the corner. Ramos landed a stunning conversion to give Spain a shock 14-12 lead.
Spain were again on the attack after the restart but a timely interception by Ryan Oosthuizen saw the Blitzboks turn defence into attack and Zain Davids was on hand to round off. The conversion by Duarttee saw the Boks back in front 19-14 with three minutes left.
Zander Reynders then burst through a tiring defence to make the game safe for the Blitzboks as they eased into a 26-14 lead with the conversion by Donovan Don. There was still time for Luan Giliomee to score his first try in the SVNS series.
South Africa’s remaining pool matches are against Argentina (9:14am) and Singapore champions Fiji (12:52pm).
Photo: Janelle St Pierre/Getty Images
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