Blitzboks slip up against their old foes

Team on the up fall at final hurdle in Vancouver

THE Blitzboks are edging closer to the finished product as the Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games in August come into sharper focus. South Africa finished runners-up in the sixth round of the HSBCWorld Sevens Series in Vancouver at the weekend, leaving them just a point behind overall leaders, Fiji, with only four tournaments left.

The Blitzboks toppled Fiji 31-19 in a pulsating semifinal in the series’ newest stop, despite conceding yet another yellow card.

They fell short against old foes New Zealand in the final though, losing 19-14.

Overall Fiji have 106 standings points, SA 105 and New Zealand 104 – in one of the closest seasons in sevens history.

Critical assessment of South Africa’s season so far, reveals remarkable consistency with five semifinal and three final appearances.

But the Blitzboks have only won one of those finals, which was on home soil on Cape Town.

New Zealand, now third on the standings, have also made three finals this season, but tellingly have won all three. They have a more ruthless streak than SA when it really counts.

SA’s defence has been ruthless all season and coach Neil Powell is close to finding his perfect 12, with the emergence of Bryan Habana and Tim Agaba as viable sevens players.

On attack, only Fiji (1 059 points, 165 tries) have better numbers than the Blitzboks, who have scored 926 points and 146 tries. Flying wing Seabelo Senatla has scored 43 of those tries – 13 more than closest rival, Fijian Savenaca Rawaca.

The Blitzboks were superb in Vancouver, only conceding one try in three pool matches and a quarterfinal against Wales. They continued that form to dispatch Fiji in the last four but came unstuck when it mattered most.

New Zealand, realising that the Blitzboks had more pace, slowed the match and starved SA of possession.

It proved decisive and showed that the Kiwis might not be as powerful as in the past, which has yielded 12 out of 16 World Series titles, but they are still intelligent and efficient.

The Olympics sevens will be cut-throat and one poor game, or one tactical error from a coach or player could be the difference between a gold medal – and no silverware at all.

“New Zealand played a good tactical game and our guys will learn from this experience. It was disappointing to lose, but I am pleased with the way we played over the entire weekend,” coach Neil Powell said.

“We said wanted to start from over on Sunday morning and I am very satisfied with our wins over Wales and Fiji.

“We also continue to give the squad members good playing opportunities as we build towards the Olympics in Brazil,” he said.