Aminiasi Tuimaba, Napolioni Bolaca and Vilimoni Botitu all found the tryline as Fiji flew into a seemingly unassailable 19-0 half-time lead in the Cup final.
But the Blitzboks roared back in the second spell, with Kurt-Lee Arendse, Angelo Davids and Ryan Oosthuizen dotting down to cut the deficit to two points with two minutes remaining, while Aminiasi Tuimaba was also shown a yellow card for a dangerous tackle.
