Seabelo Senatla breaks record as Blitzboks triumph in Wellington

Seabelo Senatla went from zero to hero as the Blitzboks famously won the Wellington leg of this season’s World Sevens campaign on Sunday.

Neil Powell’s charges beat Fiji by 26-5 in the final as their talisman bid the format farewell for now.

Senatla returns to South Africa to link up with the Stormers for their Super Rugby campaign.

The start certainly wasn’t rosy.

The Islanders’ Joeli Lutumailagi rounded off an excellent try after disdainfully streaking past Senatla to give them a 5-0 lead.

That piece of defence was certainly out of character for Senatla, who prides himself on marking well as well as scoring tries.

“It was all about keeping calm and starting again. We have a great bond, the players play for each other. We put our bodies on the line for each other,” he said afterwards.

Yet redemption was around the corner.

Fiji’s lack of discipline has been a problem for them this season and it allowed the Blitzboks to get back into the picture.

A professional foul by Setareki Bituniyata saw him spend time in the sin bin and the extra man was all South Africa needed.

Senatla atoned for his poor defence by scoring a brilliant solo try just before the break, granting the Blitzboks a 7-5 advantage at the break.

It also meant the 24-year-old flyer is now the record try-scorer for the side with 180, surpassing Fabian Juries’ mark.

“I’ll admit that I thought about the record for a little bit,” said Senatla.

“But when it got to the final, I was actually just focusing on the task at hand. Even when I dotted down, I was wholly in the zone. It initially felt like a normal try but when you sit down you realise it’s special. I’m going to miss sevens but I’ll be back.”

Thereafter, Powell’s well-established tactic of using his bench worked wonders again.

Rosko Specman scored immediately after coming on as replacement before another replacement, Ruhan Nel, rounded off a fine performance with a brace of tries.

South Africa truly deserved this title.

Earlier, they thrashed France by 45-0 in their quarterfinal before defending superbly in a tight semifinal against Canada.

That arm-wrestle was won 21-5.

“The guys are trusting the system and the system is looking after them and as long as that happens, we should do well,” said Powell.

The Blitzboks are now first on the series points table with 63 points, a lead of 12 over Fiji.

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