Blitzboks out to shine in home tourney

The HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series — as competitive as it is right now — is all about grabbing that one opportunity, and the Springbok Sevens team would love nothing more than to do just that.

That is according to Blitzboks forward Dylan Sage, who will be back at the Cape Town Stadium for the first time in three years when the Cape Town Sevens kicks off on Friday.

It will be his 26th tournament for SA.

Sage made his Blitzboks debut in 2015, played again in 2016, but missed out in 2017 due to injury and 2018 because of Vodacom Super Rugby commitments.

The Cape Town Sevens is very close to the heart of the Blitzboks, and it is a privilege and honour to play in front of their home crowd, because they have that one opportunity at it, Sage said.

“Cape Town is that one chance we get to play at home, and we need to use that opportunity.

“It is a great event, always a sell-out, and the organisers always make sure that there are lots of things keeping the crowds entertained.”

The Blitzboks forward will not lack any motivation come Friday.

“The bodies are sore after Dubai and the long flight home, but being welcomed at the airport like we were with a band playing and fans waiting, and then having a good night’s rest at home is more than enough to perk you up again,” he said.

“We have closed the door on

Dubai and will start the week fresh.

“New challenges await in Cape Town.

“We have a tough pool and the teams will be coming for us, so will have to be ready for that.”

SA face USA, Fiji and Japan in Pool A.

Fellow forward Ryan Oosthuizen concurred with Sage: “It is great to be back at home.

“The people at the airport were clearly excited to share the win in Dubai with us and we appreciate that.

“We really enjoy the support from the people back home, and playing in Cape Town is great, because we can return the compliment.”

Oosthuizen said the Blitzboks would start afresh when they reassembled.

“You need to be able to switch off and on again in the World Series.

“The Dubai event is gone, we did well and are happy about our performance, but now everyone starts at scratch again,” he said.

Springbok Sevens coach Neil Powell has added Hacjivah Dayimani to the Blitzboks squad for the tournament.

He replaces Christie Grobbelaar, who travelled to Dubai as the 13th player.

Powell will name his final 12-man tournament squad on Thursday. —

The Cape Town Sevens pools are: Pool A

SA, USA, Fiji, Japan

Pool B

New Zealand, Argentina, Canada, Wales

Pool C

England, France, Spain, Scotland

Pool D

Samoa, Australia, Ireland, Kenya.