Blitzboks too good for Fiji as Men’s Cup semi-finalists confirmed in Perth

South Africa are through to their second Men’s Cup semi-final of the season after dominating Fiji 19-nil in a one-sided quarterfinal. With this win, the Blitzboks have sent a message to the other three teams bound for the final four as they controlled this contest from start to finish.

After beating HSBC SVNS Series leaders Fiji, South Africa will turn their focus to a blockbuster showdown against event hosts Australia for a spot in the decider. On the other side of the draw, defending Perth champions Argentina will take on Spain in an intriguing fixture.

Spain were first to book their spot in the semi-finals after recording a dominant 38-nil win over Uruguay. The Uruguayan’s fairytale run at SVNS Perth, which included wins over both Fiji and New Zealand, has come to an end as they’re left to focus on ranking positions.

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As rugby fans worldwide will of course remember, Uruguay made history on day one at HBF Park with an incredible 24-17 win over SVNS Series leaders Fiji. The Fijians had beaten Uruguay 70-7 in Cape Town last month but squandered a 17-nil advantage this time around.

Incredibly, Uruguay weren’t done there either, with the South Americans recording their first-ever win over the All Blacks Sevens. While they weren’t able to complete an unbeaten run through pool play after going down to Kenya on Saturday, they’d still done enough.

Waiting for Uruguay in their first quarterfinal, who are back on the SVNS Series this season after gaining promotion from the Challenger Series, was Spain who have emerged as a genuine force this season. Spain placed second in Dubai before putting up another strong fight at Cape Town’s DHL Stadium.

It was always going to be a tough challenge for the Uruguayans, who were never really in the fight during this knockout clash. The Spaniards took a 17-nil lead into the break after Francisco Cosculluela and Eduardo Lopez (double) benefited from the team’s clinical performance.

It’s @ferugby who are the first to book their place in the #HSBCSVNSPER semi-final 🇪🇸#HSBCSVNS pic.twitter.com/Xgwzhj0itb

— HSBC SVNS (@SVNSSeries) January 25, 2025

Josep Serres was next to score about one minute into the second term, and the Spaniard completed a double later in the half. Anton Legorburu Anso rounded out the win with an effort in the 15^th minute, which saw Spain make their third semi-final in as many events this season.

Spain will take on Argentina for a spot in the big dance after they defeated Great Britain 27-14 in the second quarterfinal. Great Britain had snuck through to the knockout rounds as one of the top-two third-placed sides in pool play, which included a big win over Ireland earlier on day two.

An incredible defensive effort from GB’s Freddie Roddick almost kept the scores level, but Santiago Alvarez did just enough inside the first minute to give Argentina the lead. While the conversion missed the mark, Argentina still looked supremely confident.

Marcos Moneta scored Argentina’s second try of the match soon after, with the speedster slicing through GB’s defensive line. About one minute later, Great Britain were held up over Argentina’s try line – Los Pumas Sevens scrambling well to maintain their 12-nil lead.

But Harry Glover helped GB get back into the contest with a try late in the half. That made it only a five point ball game, and almost suddenly, it appeared the match’s momentum has swung away from Argentina and into Great Britain’s favour.

They scored again. Glover was back on the scoresheet with 15 seconds left before the break; running along the left sideline before slicing through defenders within the in-goal to touch the ball down closer to the goalposts.

14-12 is how the scoreboard read at half-time in Great Britain’s favour.

But Argentina quickly turned the tide with tries to Santiago Zangara and Matias Osadczuk within about one minute of each other. With 100 seconds left to play in this match, the defending League Winners held an eight-point lead and also managed to win the restart.

The dummy of all dummies! 😵#HSBCSVNS | #HSBCSVNSPER pic.twitter.com/ALPYwOiDt0

— HSBC SVNS (@SVNSSeries) January 25, 2025

Then, Santiago Mare scored another try for Argentina. That was the final score of the match with Argentina still alive in the competition as they look to repeat their heroics from last season by defending their Perth title.

Up next was the unmissable clash between SVNS Series leaders Fiji and Cape Town winners South Africa. From start to finish, this was a match managed by the Blitzboks who got their point-scoring barrage underway with a Shilton van Wyk try in the first minute.

2024 Dream Team member Selvyn Davids showed experience, determination and skill to run around a defender to reel in a grubber kick and score in the third minute. There was only one more score in the match and it was a penalty try during the second term.

South Africa went down to six men are one stage after a yellow card to Ronald Brown but they remained composed as they dominated possession for practically the entire match. The result was never in doubt as South Africa’s defence and attacking flair saw them outclass Fiji.

The Blitzboks will take on tournament hosts Australia after they got the better of reigning overall SVNS Series champions France 24-12.

France shot out of the blocks with a try to Celian Pouzelgues in the fourth minute, which followed the team’s strong start to the match. But the Aussies hit back a minute later through Hayden Sargeant, and they weren’t done there either.

Sargeant was once again in the thick of the action as the playmaker set up Mathew Gonzalez for a try in the final play of the half. While Sargeant was unable to add the extras with the conversion, the Aussies led at the half and had the crowd in their corner.

Les Bleus Sevens threw the ball around and eventually found the space they needed to score the first points of the second term. Joe Quere Karaba ran in for the crucial score, with the ball having been in play for two minutes uninterrupted up until that point.

But France’s advantage didn’t last long with Ben Dowling crossing for a try in the 11th minute, and Maurice Longbottom added the extras to give the tournament hosts a useful five-point lead with less than three to play.

Maurice Longbottom then sliced through France’s defensive line to seal the win.

Men’s Cup semi-finals at SVNS Perth

Spain vs Argentina at 3:05 pm (local time) on Sunday

South Africa vs Australia at 3:27 pm (local time) on Sunday