Cape Town - The Blitzboks have claimed third place at the Hong Kong Sevens, beating old rivals New Zealand 29-7 in the Bronze final at the famed event.

After their agonizing 26-24 loss to Fiji in a riveting semi-final encounter, the Blitzboks, with a number of new faces showed that the depth of sevens rugby in South Africa is indeed impressive.

South Africa proved too strong from the outset, with Stedman Gans scoring a double for a 12-0 lead after five minutes.

Captain Dewald Human added a further unconverted try to take the score to 17-0 but New Zealand hit back on the stroke of half-time thanks to James Ng Shiu to see the teams into the break at 17-7.

Zain Davids scored the first try of the second half for a 22-7 South African lead straight after the break and 18 year old Muller du Plessis added to the New Zealanders woes with a converted try of his own as South Africa cantered to a 29-7 victory. 

Fiji face Kenya in the final of the tournament.