Powell has faith in Blitzboks
AFTER their worst finish of the season – a sixth place – at the last World Series event in Singapore‚ Blitzboks coach Neil Powell is not overly concerned that his side has lost momentum at a crucial stage of the campaign.
The Blitzboks head into this weekend’s penultimate leg of the 2016-17 World Series with a 25-point lead over Fiji after winning four tournaments‚ with three runner-up places as well.
Two quarterfinal appearances in the last two events of the season in Paris and London would be enough to win the overall title‚ regardless of what Fiji do.
The Blitzboks have shown remarkable consistency throughout the season, despite losing key players such as Kyle Brown‚ Justin Geduld and Stephan Dippenaar to injury‚ and Seabelo Senatla and Kwagga Smith to Super Rugby commitments.
But the cracks began to show in their last outing in Singapore‚ which could be a bad sign as they try to wrap up the title in Paris this weekend.
“Does what happened in Singapore worry me?” Powell asked. “Yes and no.
“Singapore is a tough tournament, coming as it does after Hong Kong, because Hong Kong is the most prestigious event on tour and it’s big for all the top teams.
“We all invest so much energy and emotion into it, including New Zealand and Fiji, who also struggled in Singapore.
“Somehow, the tournament straight after Hong Kong is a tough one for the guys.
“Even when the event was in Tokyo‚ we used to struggle but I’m not entirely sure why.
“After Hong Kong, I could feel that the guys’ energy was a bit flat and we tried hard to get it back.
“But it felt like we were low on energy and we couldn’t do the basic things well.
“We didn’t protect our ball and, although we were good for 11 minutes in the quarterfinal against Australia‚ we weren’t clinical in the final three minutes and paid the price.
“Last year, Kenya won in Singapore for their first title in the series and this year it was Canada who broke their duck.
“I think it’s a tournament the smaller teams target after Hong Kong when the big teams seem to have low motivation and energy.
“That is a concern because it goes against the standards we set and what we stand for as a team. That said‚ we had a good camp prior to Paris and the guys look full of energy.
“It feels like we are gelling well and hopefully we can take that positive energy into this tournament.”
SA are drawn in Pool A alongside Singapore winners Canada‚ an improving Scotland and the unpredictable Japan.