The Blitzboks moved to two wins from two at the HSBC World Championship in Valladolid with a 14-0 shutout of Kenya, setting up a pool-deciding clash against Australia on Saturday at 13h23.
Neither try came easily against a Kenyan side that brought sustained physicality and will feel hard done by a blank scoresheet. The opening score came from an intercept by Shilton van Wyk, who read a Kenyan pass deep in the first half and ran 50 metres to score. The second arrived after Denis Abukuse was yellow-carded for a deliberate knock-on — though replays cast doubt on the deliberate nature of the act — leaving Kenya a man down. The Blitzboks chose a scrum, worked the ball tight, and Selvyn Davids produced a precise kick pass for Sebastian Jobb to finish in the corner.
Kenya, who are fighting to secure permanent World Series status for next season, must now beat Great Britain to keep their quarterfinal hopes alive.
Australia, prepared for the tournament by Joe Schmidt, arrive at the pool decider having beaten Kenya in extra time via a golden try before defeating Great Britain 26-19. The Blitzboks also required a golden try to edge Great Britain 17-12 in their opener, making the top-of-pool meeting between two sides yet to be separated by a losing margin the standout fixture of the round.
In the women's draw, the Springbok Women's Sevens have lost both their opening matches, going down 26-12 to both Australia and the USA.