Powell is not worried about the bronze
SPRINGBOK Sevens coach Neil Powell wants to zoom in on their performances in the big one-off tournaments, but it isn’t something he’s too worried about.
After falling out against England in the semi-final, the Blitzboks beat Fiji 24-19 in the third-place playoff match to claim bronze at the Sevens World Cup in San Francisco at the weekend.
The Blitzboks of course won back-toback World Sevens Series titles earlier this season, and the World Cup medal added to their impressive season run.
Given their performances and results, it’s understandable that the expectations are high when it comes to the Blitzbok side, and the fact that they haven’t been able to go all the way at the big one-off events (Rio Olympics, 2018 Commonwealth Games and the World Cup) is something that could probably raise a question or two.
Powell, though, is keen to do some dissecting, but he doesn’t think it’s a massive cause for concern.
After all, would we be questioning these didn’t-make-the-final occurrences had it been any other South African team, or does it just stem from those high expectations?
“We’ve won medals at three out of the four tournaments we’ve been involved in (World Series, Rio Olympics, 2018 Commonwealth Games and the World Cup). But we definitely want to play in the final, and we’ve only achieved that once (1997 World Cup),” Powell explained.
“It’s definitely something we’ll look at. We’re not worried about it, but we will look at it and try and take a few lessons out of the events where we didn’t play in the final, especially the Commonwealth Games and the World Cup.”
Powell lauded the consistency his team has shown in 2018. “I’m really satisfied with the year,” he said upon arrival at Cape Town International airport yesterday.
“I think the our consistency was good this year. We played in every semi-final – including the World Series, Commonwealth Games and World Cup.
“I think we just have to focus on getting through to and winning those finals. We would have wanted to do better in the one-off tournaments, but you aren’t always going to win all the tournaments and sometimes some of these teams come at you with something you haven’t seen before.
“It is what it is and unfortunately that’s the thing about Sevens, one hop of the ball can let a game go the other way. ”
The Blitzboks went to San Francisco with a brimming pot in the talent department, but it was also a team that was without the experience of several senior players. WITH 74 tries scored in the regular season and following their thrilling come-frombehind win against the Highlanders last weekend, the Waratahs have shown they’re a very dangerous team that should not be written off. Here, rugby writer Jacques van der Westhuyzen highlights the major threats awaiting the Lions when the teams meet in the Super Rugby semi-final at Ellis Park from 3pm on Saturday The main man at the back: Israel Folau
The 29-year-old fullback is very much the heartbeat of the Sydney-based team. When he plays well, the Waratahs generally do the same, and win. He is without question one of the best No 15s in the game – strong under the high ball, and fast and powerful in open play with ball in hand. It’s no surprise he has dominated the Super Rugby competition in so many areas: fourth for number of tries scored (10), fifth for clean breaks (28), sixth for metres ball carried (1060m) and fourth for number of offloads in the tackle (25). What this shows is that the Wallaby fullback is a very dangerous operator, whether with ball in hand or creating opportunities for those around him. The unstoppable try-machine: Taqele Naiyaravoro
The man mountain apparently shed 12kg in three weeks at the start of the season to be at a perfect weight for coach Daryl Gibson. But it doesn’t really matter what the 26-year-old weighs, he’s an all-powerful try-scoring machine. He’s listed at standing 195cm tall and tipping the scales at 123kg – a wing to be taken notice of. He has scored a whopping 15 tries this season to be first on the list, and has made 41 clean line breaks, placing him second. Also, he’s beaten 66 defenders to be the fourth best attacker and made the second most running metres at 1407m. Naiyaravoro is someone the Lions will have to keep a close eye on. The midfield magician: Kurtley Beale
The 73-times capped Wallabies back, who has played everywhere from flyhalf to fullback, has just gotten better with age and is probably playing the best rugby of How to stop the 123kg man-mountain, Taqele Naiyarovoro according to the 90kg Andries Coetzee “When it comes to stopping him, you just must. If you’re 80kg and the other guy is 80kg more, you just have to do your job. That’s why you play the game, to challenge yourself. I wouldn’t say there is a special way to stop him, you must just stop him. If you don’t want to tackle a guy, you’re going to miss him. If you want to tackle him, you’ve got a better chance, even if you don’t always get him. If you have a positive attitude, you can be great on the field. It’s better to go for the ankles, but you have to do your research.” his career right now, at the age of 29. Beale seems to have found his happy place at inside centre for the Waratahs, a position where he has flourished this season. Not only can he be direct and run hard at the defensive line, he’s also got some flair about him and is regarded a very sound distributor. With 176 ball carries through the season, he’s carved up plenty of chances for the men outside him – one of the reasons why the likes of Folau and Naiyaravoro have enjoyed such a good 2018. The points-gatherer at No 10: Bernard Foley
The 28-year-old is often seen as the cool, calm head in the backline and it was no surprise he was named team captain when regular Michael Hooper was ruled out with injury. On his day Foley is as good a No 10 as you’ll get; he does the basics well and every so often produces touches of brilliance – exactly what every coach wants from his pivot. He can run hard at the gain line, but also enjoys swinging the ball wide for the other creative men outside him to do their thing. The Lions must know that any transgressions will be severely punished by Foley, who leads the point-scoring table with 217. He is as accurate a goal-kicker as you will find.