Seabelo Senatla of South Africa during day 2 of the 2017 HSBC Cape Town Sevens Semi Final match between South Africa and New Zealand at Cape Town Stadium on December 10, 2017 in Cape Town, South Africa. (Photo by Ashley Vlotman/Gallo Images)
Blitzboks coach Neil Powell was in a predictably sombre mood after his side could only finish third in the Cape Town tournament of the World Sevens Series at the weekend.
After generally dominating on the first day of action, South Africa’s form deserted them on finals day.
They had to work very hard to beat Fiji in their quarterfinal early on the second day of the tournament, and despite trailing by 21-12 at the break, fought back to win 31-26.
But there was no escape in the semifinal as they went down 12-19 to New Zealand.
The Blitzboks then had to dig deep in their bronze medal match against Canada, but they managed to hang on for a 19-17 win.
“We had a good first day, but on Sunday we came up short in our execution,” said Powell.
“We did not protect the ball when we needed to and will have a look back after our break on where we need to improve for the next two tournaments in Australia and New Zealand.”
Blitzboks captain Philip Snyman said the victory over Canada was a good way to end the tournament and thanked the crowd for their wonderful support.
“Obviously we wanted to contest the final, but it was not to be. The win over Canada was a positive though,” said Snyman.
“It was amazing playing in front of a packed stadium. Even when we did not win against New Zealand, the crowd backed us and it was a great feeling to know your fans back to till the end. That is why we love playing here in Cape Town, in front of out passionate supporters.”
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