HOSTS and reigning series champions South Africa was one of three unbeaten teams after the first day of the sold-out HSBC Cape Town Sevens.
The Blitzboks, England and USA all progressed to the Cup quarter-finals unbeaten after taking three wins from three in the pool stages. South Africa faced Fiji in the final eight last night, reigning Cape Town champions England played New Zealand, Canada faced France and USA played Argentina.
South Africa have targeted their second tournament win in as many weeks after taking glory in the opening round of the 2018 world series in Dubai last weekend.
A highlight of the opening day for the 47,000 strong home crowd was Seabelo Senatla becoming the fastest player to reach 200 world series tries, achieving the milestone in just 35 tournaments.
“It’s been a surreal day for me,” said Senatla. “The reception I got was amazing today and to play in my home town was incredible. The crowd was sensational.”
Reigning champions England, who beat South Africa in the 2016 Cape Town final 19-17, conceded just 14 points in their pool matches but head coach Simon Amor says there’s scope for improvement.
“I didn’t think we played particularly well but there’s a lot of heart shown which is key in this game,” he said.
“The effort and the attitude was excellent, but our sevens wasn’t as good as it should be.
