By Brenden Nel.
The Blitzboks will face the most successful side in the Hong Kong Sevens – South Sea magicians Fijin the quarterfinals of the tournament on Sunday morning.
The Blitzboks finished second in their pool, qualifying after beating Kenya 26-17 while New Zealand cemented top spot with a 26-7 win over Ireland. Earlier the All Blacks beat the Blitzboks 12-7 in a close contest.
The Blitzboks desperately need to claim as many points as they can after two poor performances in the USA and Canada legs of the HSBC World Sevens Series but will need to do it the hard way when they face Fiji on Sunday.
The South Africans have never won in Hong Kong, so much so that it is considered their hoodoo tournament, but they will need to be at their best if they are to make strides towards the final and improve on their seventh spot on the Series rankings.
Against Kenya the Blitzboks surged to a 19-0 halftime lead thanks to tries by Shaun Williams, Siviwe Soyizwapi and Christie Grobbelaar and then extended their lead further early in the second half through Donavan Don.
But Kenya came surging back late in the game and scored three tries through Nelson Oyoo, Jeff Oluoch and Billy Odhiambo to make the scoreline look respectable.
The quarterfinal is scheduled to kick off at 4.48am (CAT, GMT+2).