Springbok Sevens book France semi-final clash following dramatic Singapore pool stage

The Springbok Sevens will face France in the semi-finals of the Singapore SVNS tournament on Sunday morning, following a strong group showing against Spain, Great Britain and Fiji.

While they lost to the Fijians in the final match on Saturday afternoon to end second in the pool phase play, they overcame two yellow cards to almost seal a famous win.

Those two sin bins played a role in the eventual 24-19 extra-time loss, but there were plenty of fight and positives from that clash to give them momentum ahead of the duel with the French (9.14am kick-off).

South Africa opened the day with a stuttering 21-14 victory against Spain, where they hardly got out of first gear. However, they turned on the magic against the British, running in five tries for a 33-12 win.

That set them up for an exhilarating clash with the Flying Fijians, and it did not disappoint.

The Blitzboks entered the game on the front foot, and their dominance started showing early on after racing out to a 14-0 lead. Tries by Tristan Leyds and Donavan Don got the South Africans off to a flyer.

However, some Fijian flair turned the game shortly before and after halftime as they crossed for two scores within quick succession to level the scores in the second half. The momentum then swung further as first Don was sent off and David Brits followed him shortly, with South Africa in a 19-14 lead.

Fiji levelled things while the Blitzboks were a player short, but some strong defending at the death – still with six men on the field – forced a knock on just as it looked the Fijians would stroll over for the winning try.

That forced the game into extra time.

However, their fight on defence was undone early on in extra time. Two players missed tackles on one Fijian attacker, and Nacani Boginisoko stretched his legs to score the winner that put Fiji on top of the pool.