The Blitzboks surged into the quarterfinals of the World Cup Sevens with a crushing 32-5 victory over Chile at Cape Town Stadium on Friday night.

The win set up a clash against Ireland who shocked England 17-5 earlier in the day.

The Blitzboks proved as energetic as they were ruthless as they powered past the combative but ultimately outclassed South Americans.

Chile got into the last 16 thanks to a dramatic come-from-behind win over Germany earlier in the day.

They looked down and out in that match but rallied to level the score before a sudden death penalty saw them progress.

There was no reprieve for them against the Blitzboks however as SA started with raging intensity which set the tone for the match.

The home team made a bright start when Angelo Davids masterfully controlled the bouncing ball to score inside the first minute.

Ronald Brown appeared to have the ball on a string as his kick-pass found the accepting arms of Sakoyisa Makata who did well to remain inside the confines of the field to score.

Chile did get on the board through the last act of the first half when captain Joaquin Huici crashed over to leave the score 17-5 at the break.

Brown then put on the afterburners as he raced clear for the first try of the second half which effectively put the result beyond doubt.

The Blitzboks completed their rout with tries by Mfundo Ndhlovu and Davids who added his second.

Perhaps off colour after the bad tidings from home England yielded to Ireland in their round of 16 clash.

England, usually redoubtable opponents in this format, were kept at length by Ireland.

There were also last 16 wins for Fiji, Australia, Argentina, New Zealand, France and Samoa who cruised past the USA.

SA's women's team went into their clash with France as underdogs. Though they made a spirited start the tag ultimately proved deserving.

France got onto the score sheet first when Lou Noel touched down in the right hand corner but the conversion failed to hit the target.

SA pressed hard to draw level but that period of dominance yielded nothing. They even eked out valuable metres through their maul but France ultimately stood firm.

France were far more assured in possession and seized on defensive deficiencies.

They repelled SA's advances and scored a long distance try through Camile Grassineau.

That proved a deflating moment for Paul Delport's team. They again went on the attack and amid pleas for the referee to award a ruck penalty to the home side, France broke free down the right hand flank through Chloe Pelle who ran in another long range effort.

France led 19-0 at the break and there appeared little way back for the home team.

Elementary errors started to stack up.

The kick to start the second half hardly imbued the hosts with new found confidence and France surged upfield resulting in another try for Pelle. Seraphine Okemba rounded off the scoring for France who ran out 29-0 victors.