CAPE TOWN, South Africa — Argentina’s title defense at the Cape Town Sevens came to an end on Saturday, thanks to an outstanding performance by South Africa’s scrumhalf, Ricardo Duarttee.
In a decisive 29-5 victory at DHL Stadium, Duarttee was instrumental in four of South Africa’s five tries. He was responsible for scoring the first two tries, although one of his attempts was disallowed due to an offside penalty. Additionally, he earned a turnover that led to the fourth try and provided the assist for the final score.
This victory secured South Africa’s top position in their pool and guaranteed them a place in the men’s semifinals on Sunday, marking a significant moment in an event they haven’t won since 2015.
In a bid to enhance player welfare, Sevens world series organizers have revamped this season’s tournament format. This season, the second of back-to-back tournaments will feature four pool divisions, eliminating the quarterfinals. Instead, the winners of each pool will advance directly to the semifinals.
Following the Cape Town event, the series will head to Singapore in April, just one week after the Hong Kong Sevens.
In the upcoming semifinals, South Africa will take on Spain, a team that demonstrated their ability to compete at a high level by defeating Kenya and Australia. Meanwhile, Fiji will match up against France. Fiji staged a comeback win over Britain, securing a 17-12 victory with Terio Veilawa scoring the decisive try under two minutes remaining, which he successfully converted from the sideline.
Fiji, who triumphed in Dubai, had previously knocked out France in the quarterfinals, courtesy of a dramatic last-minute score by Vuiviwa Naduvalo. Meanwhile, France achieved a remarkable victory over New Zealand on Saturday, recording a score of 47-15, having led 33-7 at halftime.
The women’s semifinals will feature Australia going against the United States, and New Zealand will face France. All four teams head into the semifinals undefeated.
Australia, fresh off a win in Dubai, managed to secure a 26-10 victory against Canada despite being temporarily reduced to five players. Notably, Maddison Levi ended a remarkable streak, failing to score a try for the first time in 27 matches.
In earlier encounters, New Zealand faced off against France in the Dubai semifinals as well, with New Zealand emerging victorious with a score of 28-12.