Lucky Maree
Sevens captain Siviwe Soyizwape has promised they will give Neil Powell a great send-off as Powell ends his decade-long stint as Blitzbokke coach.
The team still have the Commonwealth Games, the Los Angeles Sevens and the big prize, the Sevens World Cup in Cape Town, to make good on their promise.
The first day of the Games (being played in Coventry), went according to plan, as the Blitzboks racked up eight tries against Malaysia and six against Tonga in what can’t be seen as much more than a practice run.
Said Powell after the matches: “Unfortunately, we conceded the one try against Tonga, which was disappointing because we pride ourselves on our defence.”
The truth is it was that it was a sloppy lapse in defence. Always a bad sign for a winning team.
It is not yet known how serious the injury is to Mfundo Ndhlovu who took a serious hit to the jaw and left the field on a stretcher. Tonga’s John Ika was red-carded for a dangerous tackle.
South Africa should beat Scotland tomorrow to head the pool, but it is not totally cut and dried.
“The last time we played Scotland we lost. Hopefully we learned something from that experience,” said Powell.
“For us to top our pool, we thought it was probably going to come down to this game.”
The Women’s side, not unexpectedly, had a tough time out on the pitch. Defensive weaknesses were exposed as they conceded six tries to Australia and seven to Fijiana – a total of 87 points without reply.
The women were always going to have an uphill battle at the Games, but besides being one of the bottom teams even if they could field their “A” team, they are also dealing with a number of injury problems and the unavailability of a number of players.
As they did at the Toulouse Sevens in May, they displayed a courageous attitude and a willingness to slug it out even against the best in the world. One hopes that they can, at the very least, put some points on the board on Saturday.
Image source: @Blitzboks
