Blitzboks bring home some cheer

At the moment, it feels like there is very little to cheer about.

A lonely Christmas looms as a result of the new Covid variant omicron, sport inside our borders has all but been cancelled for the next few months and tourism is in tatters following the world’s reaction to our scientists announcing they had detected the new variant here.

However, Neil Powell’s Blitzboks had other ideas than to wallow in self-pity, and at least gave South Africans a glimmer of joy when they romped home to the Dubai Sevens title with a convincing 42-7 victory over the United States in the final on Saturday.

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The Blitzboks have now won it five times in the last seven years; it was their third straight Sevens tournament victory, following triumphs in Edmonton and Vancouver in September; and it was their 18th consecutive World Series win, improving their previous best run of the 2008/09 season by two wins.

Not too bad for a team that entered the tournament with a few injuries to key players and then suffered further injury setbacks during the event.

Powell has promised that there is still room for improvement, and they won’t rest on their laurels.

What’s even better news for the Blitzboks is that this weekend’s tournament is in their happy hunting ground – Dubai – again. Do it again for South Africa this weekend. The nation needs another pick-me-up.