Rising Blitzboks talent Quewin Nortje in action during the Cape Town Sevens. Picture: Shaun Roy/Gallo Images
It was an all too familiar tale as the Blitzboks once again completely bombed at the Cape Town Sevens over the weekend, producing yet another dismal showing in their home tournament.
The way the Blitzboks struggle so much is extremely perplexing, as local conditions should be more favourable to them since they train in SA for most of the year and always have a fantastic crowd backing them when they play in the Mother city.
It has now been eight years since they last tasted success on home soil, but it is the manner of their last few defeats in CT that have left a bitter taste in the mouth.
After starting this past weekend’s event decently with a 19-5 win over Great Britain and a 26-14 win over USA, the cracks started to show when the Blitzboks went down 14-12 to Ireland in their final pool match.
They then went completely off the rails on the final day as they were hammered 28-0 by Australia in the quarterfinals, and followed that up with another dismal showing to be thumped 31-7 by New Zealand in the fifth/sixth placed playoff.
This was amplified by a poor 2022 in SA where the Blitzboks finished seventh at the Sevens World Cup and then fourth at the SA leg of the World Series, with both events taking place at Cape Town Stadium.
What makes the Blitzboks’ home results even more strange is that they usually head into the CT leg in terrific form.
The CT Sevens is the second stop on the World Series tour, after the opening event which is held in Dubai, which the Blitzboks have absolutely dominated, winning eight of the past 10 events, including the past five in a row.
It is thus very confusing how they can start so well almost every season and then flop in front of their home fans.
In total the Blitzboks have won only four of the 23 World Series events to be held at five venues in SA, having started back in Stellenbosch in the 1999/2000 season, before moving on to Durban, George, Gqeberha and finally Cape Town.
Their first victory was in the 2008/09 season in George, where they beat New Zealand 12-7 in the final, while their most successful period came over the period of the 2013/14 to 2015/16 seasons when they triumphed three times in a row.
Since then, however, the Blitzboks have not won again, picking up two runner-up finishes, two third-place finishes, a fourth and now a sixth place in the six events held since (two tournaments were cancelled due to Covid).
So if SA fans are holding out hope of an upturn in Sevens fortunes on home soil, history suggests they shouldn’t hold their breath.
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