Blitzboks set sights on elusive title

The Springbok Sevens squad are well aware that South Africa have not won the Melrose Cup yet, but they believe the effort from the 2018 group at the Rugby World Cup Sevens in San Francisco this weekend could change that.

Blitzbok captain Philip Snyman said his troops are motivated to deliver a performance that would be good enough to lift the trophy for the first time at AT&T Park, but they are also equally aware that it will take four wins in a row to get to that moment.

“The format of the tournament is a straight knockout, so we will not win this if we lose any matches – that is the reality of this tournament,” said Snyman, who also played in the 2009 and 2013 events, played in Dubai and Moscow respectively, where the Blitzboks were knocked out in the quarterfinals on both occasions.

“Our first match will be against Ireland or Chile and if we think we can just show up because we are the top seeds, we will be in for a massive surprise.

“We have seen, especially in recent tournaments, that literally any team can beat any other at this level. So there is no way we can underestimate either the Irish or Chile. Both are capable of beating a regular on the series if that team is not 100% on song.”

Snyman is quietly confident that South Africa will be as competitive as they were earlier in the season, when they defended their 10-tournament HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series crown.

Saturday’s opener against the winner of Ireland and Chile must set the momentum for the remainder of the weekend, Snyman said: “We need to start well and then build our performances from that.” – Own Correspondent