The Blitzboks survived a major scare to beat Spain 14-12 in the quarterfinals of the HSBC SVNS Valladolid on Saturday, setting up a semifinal against Argentina at Estadio José Zorrilla on Sunday at 11:06am SA time.
Spain dominated the first half entirely, holding 12-0 at the break and looking set for the biggest result of the weekend in front of a vocal home crowd. The Blitzboks did not touch the ball in the opening three minutes and were outplayed in every area of the park, with Spain making 47 passes to South Africa's 15 at one stage.
The comeback began when Tristan Leyds broke away in counterattack to create the platform for Impi Visser to score with four minutes remaining, cutting the deficit to five. Spain then intercepted a Selvyn Davids pass, but Sebastiaan Jobb made a desperate cover tackle to dislodge the ball under the posts and deny what looked a certain try.
A second Spanish yellow card — this time for a high tackle — gave the Blitzboks the space they needed. Davids redeemed himself with a blindside break from a scrum, and a series of passes and a kick set up Jayden Nell for his first Springbok Sevens try with 90 seconds on the clock. Ricardo Duarttee's conversion gave the Blitzboks a 14-12 lead, and they played out the final minute to advance.
Earlier on Saturday, the Blitzboks lost their Pool A decider to Australia — a repeat of their New York pool defeat. South Africa led 14-10 with two minutes remaining but conceded twice late to lose. Dewald Human went off after three minutes with a leg injury, and though Quewin Nortje scored early and Gino Cupido added a well-taken try after an angled run, the second half unravelled. A restart that Cupido and Leyds both left to each other went directly into Australian hands for a fourth try to seal the win.
The Blitzboks need a significant step up against Argentina as they chase a sixth consecutive tournament title.