BLITZBOKS OFF TO A FLYER
After slow start, the South African team catch fire as they power to Dubai title
SPRINGBOK Sevens coach Neil Powell admits he was concerned about whether or not his players would come together after their opening Dubai Sevens match against Kenya.
The Blitzboks were given a scare by Kenya, who held a 12-5 half-time lead, in their Pool D encounter at the Sevens Stadium on Thursday.
The Blitzboks fought back to take a 17-12 lead in the second half, and despite Kenya camping in South Africa’s half in the final minutes, they couldn’t get another try.
“I was wondering after that Kenya game if the guys would be able to find each other during the tournament – as we progressed in the tournament they did and became a very tight team at the end,” said Powell.
Although they had a slow start against Spain, things started coming together for the Blitzboks with every game they played.
Against England, in their final pool game, they held their composure and fought back after the opposition scored two tries while they were one man down after Ruhan Nel was yellow-carded, and during the play-offs, they looked complete.
A focus for Powell heading into the Dubai tournament was to match some players who returned from Fifteens with some of the newer players, something that went very well.
“Some of the younger players did not play with the older guys before and they needed to find each other out there,” said Powell.
“Someone like Kurt-Lee (Arendse) has not played with Ruhan (Nel) or Rosko (Specman) before, so that was always going to be a challenge. They pulled together as a team over these six games and I am very proud of their effort.
“They improved with every match,” said Powell.
Their defence was a key weapon for the Blitzboks at the weekend, and that was highlighted in their 15-0 victory over New Zealand in the final.
“The step-up on defence was great and that was one area we are very pleased about. If you can keep teams out, you will be successful in tournaments.”
On the final against New Zealand, Powell said: “The final against New Zealand was incredible and they deserve a lot of credit. It was very tight. In the first half there were a couple of end-to-ends and they scrambled so well.
“We had turnovers and attacked, but their scramble defence was excellent and we just could not score. We stayed in control of the match though and that was the difference. From the kick-off we had control.”
Powell is confident that they can celebrate in Cape Town as well if they maintain the effort they put in in Dubai.
“Coming to Dubai, it was not really about the outcome, but the process we needed to implement. We had a great effort out here and if we can repeat that, we can be successful in Cape Town again,” said Powell.