The Blitzboks got their Olympic campaign off to a poor start as they were beaten 10-5 by Ireland in their opening game at the Stade de France in Paris on Wednesday evening.
With the top two teams from each of the three pools, and the two best third placed teams reaching the quarterfinals, the Blitzboks will need to beat New Zealand and Japan in their next two pool games to make sure of their progress.
In the match the opening half belonged entirely to Ireland, with them dominating possession and territory, and they thought they had scored the opening try with just over a minute left, only for Jordan Conroy to knock on as he tried to dot down.
After the halftime hooter Ireland finally got their reward as they attacked into the Blitzboks 22m, worked space on the left touchline and Zach Ward offloaded to Conroy to trot over untouched for an unconverted score and 5-0 lead at the break.
The Blitzboks got off to a much better start in the second half and almost scored when Selvyn Davids kicked through, but Quewin Nortje couldnt gather the viciously bouncing ball as he knocked on with the tryline at his mercy.
