SVNS Series title going down to the wire as Blitzboks and Fiji make semis in New York

The Blitzboks finished second in Pool A on Saturday, with victories over New Zealand 22-7 and France 12-5 before going down 19-12 to Australia.

Fiji, tied with the South Africans at the top of the log, lost their opener against Argentina (31-12) before wins over Great Britain 24-19 and Spain 43-12 to finish second in their pool.

The Blitzboks play Argentina at 18:50 (SA time) in the second semi-final, with Fiji and Australia clashing at 18:28 on Sunday.

Against New Zealand, the Blitzboks were in control of possession and held sway at the breakdown, which helped them control the match.

They kept out the Kiwis, who could not quite find a way around the SA defence for most of the match and counter-punched when the opportunity arose.

Selvyn Davids scored the opening try and Sebastiaan Jobb did a double on each side of the break, but the most popular five-pointer belonged to Grant de Jager, who dotted down for his first HSBC SVNS try in the second half. New Zealand scored late, but that had no impact on the results.

The match against France was tight and the margins even tighter. France scored first, but Tristan Leyds dotted down after some silky skills, with Ronald Brown scoring and converting for the match winner in the second half.

Unfortunately, Leyds and Dewald Human suffered injuries which prevented them from taking the field against Australia in the final pool match and that impacted the rhythm of the Blitzboks attack.

Selvyn Davids scored his 100th try in the series to put the Blitzboks up, but two tries by the Aussies had them in the lead at the break.

Davids then made it 101 in his HSBC SVNS career, but a late try by Australia secured the win.

Scorers:

South Africa 22 (12), New Zealand 7 (0)

SA - Tries: Selvyn Davids, Sebastiaan Jobb (2), Grant de Jager. Conversion: Dewald Human.

NZ - Try: Brady Rush. Conversion: Sam Clarke.

South Africa 12 (5), France 5 (5)

SA - Tries: Tristan Leyds, Ronald Brown. Conversion: Brown.

France - Try: Celian Pouzelgues.

South Africa 12 (7), Australia 19 (12)

SA - Tries: Selvyn Davids (2). Conversion: Davids.

Australia - Tries: James Turner, Ben Dalton, Jayden Blake. Conversions: Dietrich Roache, Maurice Longbottom.

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