Blitzboks now close in on title

After placing in the top two at each of the seven completed tournaments of the current 2016-17 HSBC World Sevens Series season‚ the Blitzboks are perfectly set to take the overall title with three legs remaining, writes Craig Ray.

Neil Powell’s team top the standings on 145 points‚ 23 clear of Fiji going into round eight in Singapore this weekend.

It is a huge lead and things would have to go horribly wrong for the Blitzboks to falter from here despite a depleted squad.

If the Blitzboks manage three semifinal appearances from here on in‚ a not unreasonable expectation considering they have made seven finals‚ they would take a minimum of another 45 log points.

That would put them on 190 points‚ which is more than Fiji can reach even if they win in Singapore‚ Paris and London.

The most log points the islanders could reach is 188 — not impossible‚ but improbable.

Despite SA having one hand on their second overall series title‚ they are not looking that far ahead as they regroup after making the Hong Kong final last week before losing 22-0 to Fiji in the final.

In Singapore the Blitzboks are pooled with England‚ France and Japan. In 42 matches this season, the Blitzboks have only lost four games — three of those defeats have been against England. So, this will be a tough pool‚ and one they must come out of to maintain their momentum.

But after losing Roscko Speckman‚ Kyle Brown‚ Stephan Dippenaar‚ Justin Geduld and Carel du Preez to injury and Kwagga Smith and Seabelo Senatla to Super Rugby‚ the team was dealt a further blow in Hong Kong.

Selvyn Davids‚ himself a replacement for Speckman‚ has been ruled out of Singapore after sustaining an ankle injury. Powell has called up Sandile Ngcobo as a replacement.

Davids‚ who made his debut in Hong Kong in the sweeper role‚ was replaced by the travelling reserve Ryan Oosthuizen for the Cup final against Fiji. But Powell has opted for another backline player as replacement.

“It is a pity Selvyn picked up an injury as he showed good touches in Hong Kong‚” Powell said. “We are replacing a backline player with another one‚ so Sandile was the obvious call. He also joined us in Vancouver following the injury to Stephan Dippenaar‚ so is no stranger to our system. Ryan will remain the back-up‚ but as he saw in Hong Kong‚ could be called upon at any time.” /