HSBC Cape Town 7s: The Blitzboks claimed victory in the opening match of the Cape Town Sevens, defeating Canada in their Pool A encounter on Friday.
Sandile Ngcobo’s charges scored three tries in a 17-7 win, but still trailed 7-5 at half-time.
Canada opened the scoring with a try by Alex Russell, with Brock Webster landing an easy conversion.
Muller du Plessis’ try in the first half saw South Africa trail by two points heading into the second half.
But the Blitzboks came back firing in the second stanza as Shilton van Wyk and Ryan Oosthuizen scored back-to-back tries.
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Newcomer Ricardo Duarttee landed a conversion as the hosts sealed victory.
South Africa, who won the Dubai Sevens last week, will tackle Fiji (11:19) and France (17:00) on Saturday.
Scorers:
South Africa 17 (5)
Tries: Muller du Plessis, Shilton van Wyk, Ryan Oosthuizen
Conversion: Ricardo Duarttee
Canada 7 (7)
Tries: Alex Russell
Conversion: Brock Webster
HSBC Cape Town 7s Live coverage begins Friday in South Africa
Click on the video player above to watch live coverage of the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series event in Cape Town, South Africa.
Coverage continues Saturday beginning at 1:35 a.m. ET.
The Canadian women’s team began their tournament with a 19-19 draw with France before dropping their next match to the U.S. by a score of 24-7. Canada wraps pool play on Saturday with a game against Japan at 4:57 a.m. ET.
SA’s biggest party – the unofficial noon gun to the summer season – is back and is as brash as ever.
Three days of rugby action kicks off at 12pm on Friday 9 December at the DHL Stadium, but it’s the bits between the play that sets Cape Town Sevens apart.
Fancy dress fans bring the gees while a mouth-watering, jaw-dropping, cast list of entertainment has once again been lined up to make it SA’s best day out while keeping (most of) your clothes on.
December’s weather, shorter playing days and cheaper prices, set the HSBC Cape Town Sevens apart from the recent Rugby World Cup where the serious business of naming global champs was the focus.
Instead, the Blitzboks and Bok Women will be strutting their stuff as per normal, while the best of the rest of the world return for one of the best-loved events on the World Sevens Series calendar.