@Blitzboks
The Blitzboks pulled off the biggest upset of the Olympic sevens tournament by beating one of the favourites New Zealand to book a semi-final spot against hosts France.
The South Africans got off to a shaky start on Day One losing to Ireland and New Zealand, but needing to pull off a big victory against Japan, winning 49-5, to sneak into the quarter-final stage.
The Blitzboks defence kept them in the medal hunt as they denied the All Blacks several times from crossing the line running out 14-7 winners.
Coach Phillip Snyman was a happy man going into Saturday’s semi-finals which will see defending Olympic champions Fiji take on Australia.
“They deserve to be in the semi-finals, as they have executed and delivered everything I have asked from them today,” Snyman said after the match.
“We did not play poorly on day one, we just could not get our hands on the ball, but today was a different performance, a really inspiring one.
“We needed to win big against Japan and scored seven well-worked tries, but against New Zealand, our defence was going to be crucial and I am so proud of how the guys responded.”
Snyman said he had a good feeling about the ability of the players selected to travel to the world showpiece.
“This was such a great win, built on defence and workrate, while we struck when we needed to. In fact, we left another try or two out there.
These guys deserve to contest for a medal, they showed that tonight.”
The official opening of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games takes place on Friday.
What a day in Paris for the #Blitzboks - two from two and they are into the medal matches of the #Olympics after knocking NZ out in the quarters - more here: https://t.co/9811hNtub1 ??#PoweredByUnity #PARIS2024???? pic.twitter.com/6CRZJluwiL
— Springbok Sevens (@Blitzboks) July 25, 2024
