The Springbok Sevens team were blown out of the Vancouver Sevens by a Samoan whirlwind, as they went down 28-17 in their quarterfinal match.
After dominating the opening few rounds of the HSBC World Series, the Blitzboks have been hit by injuries and had only 11 fit players to choose from for the game, but it will serve as little excuse for the performance in a game they were never in.
Samoa blasted them away from the start, when Vaovasa Afa scored in the opening minute and the South Africans never had an answer afterwards.
A brace of tries followed for Vaa Apelu Maliko, the second of which came of a botched kickoff from the Blitzboks as Samoa stretched their halftime lead to 19-0.
Even tries from Zain and Selvyn Davids in the second half wasn’t enough, as Faafoi Falaniko delivered the killer blow to end their hopes of a comeback and give Samoa the win.
A last-minute try to Ronald Brown gave the scoreline some respectability but in reality they were never close to a win and their second quarterfinal exit in two weeks will be a massive disappointment for Neil Powell’s side.
They face France in the fifth place playoff semifinals at 11pm South African time, but in reality this will only be for points that could help them keep their lead in the World Series, but very little else.