The Springbok Sevens' grip on the Emirates Dubai 7s trophy was finally broken at The SEVENS on Sunday when they were defeated 24-17 by New Zealand in the quarter-finals.

More agony awaited in their fifth-place playoff, where the Blitzboks were pipped 17-15 by France, with a converted try in the last play of the match again tripping up the South Africans in what seemed to be a reply of the end of their New Zealand defeat.

Against France, the Blitzboks raced to a 10-0 lead in no time with tries by Donavan Don and David Brits, in the right- and left-hand corners respectively rewarded some good wide play by the men in green and gold.

Their second half effort was less flattering though as they allowed France to score two unanswered tries and with scores level at 10-10, with all to play for.

It seemed that the Blitzboks had the result under wraps when Zain Davids got a try near the end of the game for a 15-10 lead, only for France to score in the final play of the match, with the try under the posts resulting in a match-winning conversion by Stephen Parez.

The quarter-final against New Zealand was a classic. Both teams were in a position to win it with the last play, but where the Blitzboks spilled their potential scoring pass, the Kiwis grabbed theirs.

The Blitzboks, trailing 17-19, were hot on the attack, but a loose pass by Shilton van Wyk found a New Zealand defender and they turned that into a try, their first win over South Africa at this venue in almost a decade.

Quewin Nortje opened the scoring and Tristan Leyds converted for an early 7-0 lead, before Ngarohi McGarvey-Black scored and converted to level things at the break.

Nortje scored his second in the second half to push his side into the lead again, before McGarvey-Black scored and converted again for New Zealand to take a 14-12 lead.

That was cancelled out by Don, who scored in the corner with two minutes left, handing his side a 17-14 lead. Sofia Maka scored to hand his side a 19-17 lead, with Maka making the last errant Blitzboks pass count to score his second at the end of the half.

Scoring summaries:

South Africa 17 (7), New Zealand 24 (7)SA - Tries: Quewin Nortje (2), Donavan Don. Conversion: Tristan Leyds.NZ - Tries: Ngarohi McGarvey-Black (2), Sofai Maka (2). Conversions: McGarvey-Black (2).

South Africa 15 (10), France 17 (0)SA - Tries: Donavan Don, David Brits, Zain Davids.France - Tries: Liam Delamare, Alo Dabo, Varian Pasquet. Conversion: Stephen Parez.

SA Rugby

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