By Mark Etheridge
The Blitzboks downed Kenya in a bruising clash of African neighbours to keep a clean sheet on day two of the HSBC Hong Kong Sevens on Saturday.
The final score may have read 35-10, but Kenya gave a good account of themselves, especially in the second half after trailing 21-5 at the break.
Former world player of the year Werner Kok put the Blitzboks on the board when he went over under the posts after a copybook training move from a line-out down the right.
There followed a dreadful period of play from Kenya, first kicking away possession needlessly, followed by a careless unload gobbled up by the Blitzboks, and Branco du Preez went over.
With just over a minute left to play, that man Kok turned over possession and a Chris Dry off-load saw skipper Philip Snyman going over.
The successful conversion saw Du Preez becoming a member of the exclusive 1000-point club in the HSBC World Series.
Kenya clawed their way into the game with a try by Dennis Ombachi after the half-time hooter had sounded.
It was the eastern African nation who struck first in the second half as Nelson Oyoo scored after only 49sec to reduce the gap to just 11, but immediately it was Kok from the kick-off after the Boks moved play smartly down the left.
The conversion made it 28-10, but Kok wasn’t done as he went over for his hat-trick of tries after some good work from giant replacement Tim Agaba. Yet another successful conversion saw the Blitzboks home and dry at 35-10, with one Pool B game to come against Canada at 11.54 SA time.
Neil Powell’s men had opened their Hong Kong campaign (a venue where they’ve yet to be crowned champions!) with a 17-14 win against France on day one.
Picture of Werner Kok on the rampage against Kenya courtesy of Juan Manuel Serrano Arce/Getty Images)