Koroi found his way into the corner with a score to break the capacity crowd’s hearts after the Blitzboks looked a lot better than they did at the Dubai Sevens but fell just short in the end.

South Africa still topped the pool after New Zealand lost to Samoa earlier in the day, and the win kept the Dubai Sevens champs in the Cup competition, but the Blitzboks will have the “easier” draw against Scotland while New Zealand will face Australia in the quarterfinals.

Rosko Speckman opened the scoring early on but New Zealand hit back quickly through tries by Andrew Knewstubb and then Sione Molia either side of halftime to take the lead.

But then tries by Werner Kok and a beautiful break by Branco du Preez put the Blitzboks in the lead again.

Some creative play gave Molia a second try before the hooter went and the referee allowed the kickoff, which eventually led to Koroi going over to score the winning try.