Blitzboks claim Sydney 7s
SA well ahead of chasing pack
THE Blitzboks underlined their dominance of the HSBC Sevens World Series by winning the Sydney leg of the circuit yesterday to open a massive lead at the top the standings.
South Africa beat England 29-14 in the final after earlier losing 21-15 to the same opposition in pool play on Saturday.
England remain the only team to have beaten the Blitzboks this season, after also winning the final in Cape Town last December.
But with 22 wins from 24 matches this season‚ the Blitzboks are well ahead of the chasing pack.
Victory in Sydney was the Blitzboks’ first world series win in Australia since Adelaide in 2009 – the same year they won the overall title – and the first time they have won back-toback titles in Australasia after winning in Wellington last week.
It was SA’s third win out of four tournaments this season and they moved to 85 log points out of a possible 88 in 2016-17, and their fifth consecutive final appearance in the series dating back to last season.
Not since New Zealand won the opening five tournaments in 2007-08 has a side dominated as much as the Blitzboks have this season.
The Blitzboks are now 17 points clear of secondplaced England, who have 68 points, while reigning series champions Fiji are third on 64 points.
The series takes a short break until Last Vegas in early March‚ which is just as well for SA‚ who suffered another significant injury with Werner Kok sustaining a calf muscle injury on day one.
After beating Japan 32-0 and Kenya 14-7 to secure a quarterfinal berth on day one‚ the Blitzboks were sloppy in their final pool match against England‚ knowing they were into the last eight.
On day two, SA saw off a spirited US 21-5 in the quarterfinals before overcoming hosts Australia 26-12 in the semifinals.
Wing Seabelo Senatla ended his Blitzbok season with another nine tries at the weekend to take his personal career tally to 189 and 32 for the season.
He leaves the series to join the Stormers in Super Rugby.
Another Blitzbok stalwart‚ Kwagga Smith‚ also ended his season on a high note‚ scoring two crucial tries in the semifinal, while also being the key operator at the breakdown.
He joins the Lions in Super Rugby this week. –