Blitzboks coach Ngcobo: ‘We are not doing our badge or country proud’

For the second week in a row Blitzboks coach Sandile Ngcobo bemoaned the lack of consistency in his team as the SA Sevens side crashed to finish in 11th place at the LA Sevens tournament on Sunday.

In Vancouver the week before, Ngcobo’s team finished ninth, with the coach then also complaining about a lack of consistency.

The Blitzboks, once the world leaders in the Sevens game and regular challengers for tournament titles, are now down in seventh place on the world series log with 48 points after five tournaments. Argentina lead the way with 90 points.

“It is really frustrating that we can put some excellent performances together, beating anyone, and then lose the next couple of matches. We certainly are a better team than these results reflect,” said Ngcobo after the Blitzboks’ final game in Los Angeles on Sunday.

“Two things are standing out for me at this stage … the lack of discipline around the tackle area and the basics not being done well when we need to finish off our opportunities.”

Depth

Ngcobo added that a lack of depth in the squad was also impacting their performances: “Having a squad with good depth results in internal competition and guys really fighting hard to get and stay in the team. Our management will have to sit down and see how we can rectify that aspect of our set-up.”

Ngcobo admitted the team were letting their fans and South Africa down.

“We are not doing our badge or the country proud at the moment, that is a sad reality,” said the coach.

Three tournaments remain in the series – in Hong Kong (5-7 April), Singapore (3-5 May) and Spain (31 May to 2 June in Madrid). The top eight sides in the series will retain core status for next season.

Meanwhile, the SA Women’s team finished sixth in Los Angeles – their best finish of the series. They are 10th on the points table.