Struggling Blitzboks determined to close World Series campaign with a bang

The Springbok Sevens squad are keen to close their disappointing season on a high note, according to team member Impi Visser, as the curtain comes down on the 2023 World Rugby Sevens Series at the iconic Twickenham Stadium in London this weekend.

Though their campaign included a victory at the second leg in Dubai, the Blitzboks went on to struggle throughout the second half of the 2022/23 season.

They were lying a lowly seventh in the standings ahead of the final tournament, and were set to finish outside the top two in the World Series for only the second time in 11 years.

Eager to show they remained a force, Visser said the former champions were fired up to finish the World Series with a solid performance.

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“We want to finish strong after we’ve struggled in the last four or five tournaments,” said Visser.

“I also think it will be good for our confidence going into next season if we can go all the way and win this tournament, and hopefully qualify (automatically) for the Olympic Games as well.”

Gaining momentum

The Blitzboks will face Great Britain, USA and New Zealand in Pool A of the London Sevens on Saturday, and Visser said they wanted to take the positives from last weekend in Toulouse onto the pitch at Twickenham.

South Africa blew hot and cold in France, but their big wins over Fiji on Friday – in pouring rain – and the USA on Saturday gave the men in green and gold some confidence.

“There were a lot of positives from Toulouse, especially our performances against Fiji and USA,” said Visser.

“We showed what we can do in difficult conditions against Fiji – the way in which we took risks and expressed ourselves – which was a true reflection of our talent. We need to take the momentum from those games into this weekend.”

The Blitzboks, however, were also aware of the areas that needed improvement.

“One area we need to improve is our restart receipts. We were not good last weekend and that is probably why we lost to Australia and Argentina,” Visser said.

“We could not get the ball when those opponents kicked on us and we need to sharpen up on that.”