Hong Kong curse strikes again for the gallant Blitzboks
Coach Neil Powell is more than pleased with their 2nd place finish but Fiji exploit the side's inexperience in the final.
Werner Kok was named player of the tournament. Photo: Isaac Lawrence/AFP.
Blitzboks coach Neil Powell was more than pleased with the way his squad performed in Hong Kong, despite a 22-0 loss to Fiji in the final of the tournament, the seventh of the World Rugby Sevens series.
South Africa have never won the Hong Kong Sevens and again fell at the last hurdle, but Powell was far from despondent.
“We did very well, considering the inexperience we had in our squad and the fact that we were without a number of star players,” Powell said.
“We did well over the three days and managed to play five good games, but unfortunately we were just not good enough in the final.”
The coach admitted that he was well aware of the tough pool and a possible quarterfinal clash with either Fiji or New Zealand, adding to the demanding schedule.
“I was a bit nervous as the pool stage could easily derailed us and the cross-over was tricky. Looking back now, we did excellent and I am content with what we achieved.”
The strong showing helped the Blitzboks to keep a 23-point series lead over closest rivals, Fiji and England.
“That helped a lot for our confidence, but it is not something that we can feel at ease about. We need another strong performance in Singapore next weekend to keep the pressure on.”
Powell also aimed at giving more playing opportunities to younger players in the squad during the series and due to the injuries in camp, had little option to do so in Hong Kong.
“It was one of the objectives we had pre-season and I am happy that we could do that. I wanted to give the younger guys more chances on the field and in match situations.”
Springbok Sevens player Werner Kok was named Player of the Tournament, but he was more pleased for the team effort displayed by the squad.
“It is never about the individual, so the team deserve this as much as I do,” he insisted.
He pointed to the fact that the team will be keen to improve on this performance.
“We did not play our best rugby in the final, unfortunately, but we can be pleased with our overall effort.”
Kok is not worried that team will start looking at the overall log now.
“No, I don’t think so. We still have a lot to do before we can think of winning the overall series. We get another chance next weekend to rectify our mistakes and we will be back at it, working hard.”
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