Lucky Sithole
South Africa 14 (14) – Kenya 5 (5)
The match is probably sealed in the first four minutes. Selwyn Davids takes a penalty tap kick with his team fanned out around him, but he decides to go by himself and scores under the posts.
A minute later Siviwe Soyizwape scores a try that he had no right to get – the try of the tournament so far as he sidesteps two opponents and bashes another out the way to score.
With the score at 14-0 after four minutes, it looked as if a rout was on the cards, but then the courageous Kenyans came back through a try by legend Collins Injera. The conversation is a shocker and the score at halftime is 14-5.
The second half looked as if it belonged to the Kenyans as they launched attack after attack – but they couldn’t manage to score a single point as the Blitzbokke punished every mistake.
The masterclass performance of the Blitzbokke – who conceded at least 10kg per player – was a defensive joy to watch.
There were at least two high tackles, but it is dealt with in an instant in sevens. If the ref decides it’s not dangerous play, a penalty is given against the offending player, play continues. Literally no more than a second.
There was no score in the second half, but clearly the Blitzbokke held all the cards as they were not in trouble at any time during those seven minutes of the half.
Image source: @Blitzboks
