SA Sevens coach Sandile Ngcobo looks on during a training session. Picture: David van der Sandt/Gallo Images
The Blitzboks gave it their all at the France Sevens, but despite the unsatisfying results, head coach Sandile Ngcobo sees a silver lining.
The South Africans lost to Australia in the fifth-place semi-final on Sunday in a 21-19 defeat and had that result gone the other way, Ngcobo believes his troops would have had better memories of the Toulouse event.
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The results at Stade Ernest-Wallon saw Argentina and Fiji confirm their Olympic Games qualification after New Zealand did so in Singapore, leaving the fourth qualifier to be confirmed in London next weekend.
Australia are currently in the pound seats on 125 World Series points, leaving the Blitzboks, on 116 points, with a very small chance to overhaul the Aussies.
“I felt at times we did not quite get the rewards,” said Ngcobo. “We had two weeks of good preparation in Stellenbosch and the five players coming back into the team integrated well.
“That showed in this tournament, as the guys came back into those high-profile matches and at times did well.
“There was frustration, especially in the first game on the opening day, when we did not play well at all, but day two started well, before we disappointed ourselves against Argentina,” he added.
“Against Australia the bounce of the ball and a call or two did not favour us either and that made the difference.”
Ngcobo said the team’s improvement during the tournament showed that some things were done well.
After losing their opening pool game against France, the Blitzboks hit back with big wins over Fiji and the USA to book their spot in the quarter-finals, where they lost to eventual runners up Argentina.
“The season is not over for us, so there is still an opportunity to improve, and we are keen to grab it,” said Ngcobo.
This story first appeared on sarugbymag.co.za. It is republished here with permission.
1 New Zealand – 186 points
2 Argentina – 159
3 France – 139
4 Fiji – 138
5 Australia – 125
6 Samoa – 116
7 South Africa – 116
8 Ireland – 104
9 USA – 95
10 Great Britain – 94
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