It was a great performance by the Springbok Sevens team as they not only showed their excellent attacking skills, but also converted opportunities from turn-overs and defended strongly.
Kurt-Lee Arendse and Seabelo Senatla scored two tries each, while Justin Geduld and Rosko Specman were in sublime form with the boot as they converted all seven tries, the most of them from tricky angles.
The Blitzboks’ first try came in less than a minute, when Japan made a mistake under defensive pressure on their own try-line, and Senatla capitalised.
Specman was yellow carded soon after for knocking down the ball, but that didn’t deter the Blitzboks as Arendse went over in the corner from a great counter-attacking move.
The home team’s defence was tested towards the end of the first half, but Arendse had the last say before the break as he sprinted 60m down the touchline from another turn-over.
From the restart, JC Pretorius raced away for the South Africans’ fourth try after a strong run in midfield by Ruhan Nel, and Senatla had the next say when he intercepted a wild pass by the Japanese and went over untouched.
The Blitzboks kept the scorers busy as Selvyn Davids also got in on the try-scoring action a few minutes later after they punished another mistake by the men from the Far East.
Nel wrapped things up with the Blitzboks’ seventh try after he dislodged the ball in the tackle, scooped it up and went over in the left-hand corner, with Specman adding the extras to make it an almost perfect outing for the South Africans.
On Saturday, the Blitzboks face Fiji (13h51) and USA (20h03) in their final two pool matches.
Scorers:
South Africa 49 (21) – Tries: Seabelo Senatla (2), Kurt-Lee Arendse (2), JC Pretorius, Selvyn Davids, Ruhan Nel. Conversions: Justin Geduld (4), Rosko Specman (3).
Japan 0
