It’s about the process for Blitzboks captain Snyman
dubai — Blitzboks captain Philip Snyman was delighted to lead his side to a sixth title at the Dubai Rugby Sevens and said that their focus is more on the process than the result.
South Africa defend their Sevens title by defeating New Zealand 2412 in the final at The Sevens Stadium on Saturday night.
The All Blacks Sevens, who were rattled in the first half by South Africa’s showing, clawed back into the game in the second period. But the Blitzboks staved off the challenge in the end.
“We kind of let them back into the game and a silly yellow card and one or two silly mistakes towards the end almost cost us,” Snyman said after the final.
“It was a long pre-season and a lot of guys went on to play
We kind of let them back into the game and a silly yellow card and one or two silly mistakes towards the end almost cost us
Philip Snyman
some XVs so it’s a new team with some unfamiliar faces. We want to focus on our processes and if we leave the result and the result doesn’t go our way then we’re still happy,” he added.
The Blitzboks now head home to South Africa for the second stop of the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series in Cape Town on December 9 and 10.
Meanwhile, Snyman’s teammate and last year’s World Rugby Sevens Player of the Year Seabelo Senatla said that it was a great performance.
“It was a great performance from the guys,” said Senatla.
“It’s been a while since we all played together but it’s so great to win again in Dubai,” added Senatla, who scored seven tries in Dubai.
Meanwhile, England landed the bronze after beating Fiji 28-21.
After losing to New Zealand in the semifinal, England captain Tom Mitchell, said: “It’s tough to take and horrible to lose but they seized their chances better than we did. We got stuck by our own line early in the second half and that killed us.”
Meanwhile, teammate McConnochie said there was no lack of effort from the lads. “You couldn’t fault the effort from our boys,” said McConnochie.
“We were on our knees at the end and rightly so, we worked our socks off for each other and that’s what we really pride ourselves on, making that tackle and keeping on going again right to the final whistle.
“I thought we epitomised that and it was great with the English fans here, they really helped us through that game, and we’re sorry we couldn’t get the win,” he added.
james@khaleejtimes.com