Blitzboks dominate Ireland in Cape Town Sevens opener to thrill home crowd

Mfundo Ndhlovu scores the Blitzboks' last try of the game during their Cape Town Sevens clash against Ireland at Cape Town Stadium in the Mother City on Saturday. Photo: Henk Kruger/Independent Newspapers

Mfundo Ndhlovu scores the Blitzboks' last try of the game during their Cape Town Sevens clash against Ireland at Cape Town Stadium in the Mother City on Saturday. Photo: Henk Kruger/Independent Newspapers

Published Dec 7, 2024

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The Blitzboks began their Cape Town Sevens tournament in emphatic style when they blew Ireland out of the park in the Mother City on Saturday afternoon.

The Cape Town leg of the Sevens Series features just two pool games, putting more pressure on teams to get out of the blocks quickly in order to avoid disappointment.

Backed by the partisan home crowd, the South Africans did just that as they won their encounter against the Irish 36-7 as they looked to recover from last weekend's heartbreak in Dubai.

South Africa raced to a 24-0 lead in the first half following a brace of tries from Quewin Notrje, and one each by David Brits and Impi Visser.

After the break, Visser crosse over for his second, and with the game approaching its conclusion,  the returning Mfundo Ndlovu added another. Josh Costello added the consolation try for the Irish.

The Blitzboks will be in action again at 6.41pm when they take on Argentina as they look to book their spot in the knock-out stages of the tournament. Ireland and Argentina will play their game at 3pm.

After last weekend's opening Dubai tournament, the Blitzboks are placed sixth overall after losing the fifth place play-off to Olympic champions France.

Scorers:

Blitzboks 36 Tries: David Brits, Quewin Nortje (2), Impi Visser (2), Mfundo Ndhlovu. Conversions: Ricardo Duarttee (2), Shaun Williams.

Ireland 7 Try: Josh Costello. Conversion: Tadhg Brophy.

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