Blitzboks aim to cement leaders’ place
• Afrika and Brown’s absence paves way for Soyizwapi
The Blitzboks arrived in Wellington‚ New Zealand‚ on Sunday with a mission to extend their lead at the top of the World Sevens Series standings.
The third leg of the 10-leg series takes place in New Zealand’s capital this weekend, with the South Africans leading on 41 points after winning the first round in Dubai and finishing runners-up in Cape Town.
Mother City winners England are second on the standings with 39 points and World Series and Olympic champions Fiji are third on 32 points.
New Zealand and Scotland share fourth spot on 27 points.
For the Blitzboks, the first challenge is overcoming jet lag by the weekend to ensure they are playing at optimum level.
A bigger challenge will be finding their rhythm without the injured‚ experienced duo of playmaker Cecil Afrika and star forward Kyle Brown. Springbok Sevens wing Siviwe Soyizwapi‚ who replaced Afrika‚ will play at this venue for the first time since making his Blitzbok debut last season and he is excited to contribute to the team.
Soyizwapi travelled with the Springbok Sevens as the reserve player to the opening two legs‚ but has not yet played.
“I am very excited as it is my first time at the tournament and I am keen for it to start‚” Soyizwapi said.
“I have learned a lot travelling with the guys‚ but you need to play to put that in practice.
“So, this time I am looking forward to doing my part on the field and contribute there.”
Teammate Rosko Specman suggested the players were raring to go after spending the last six weeks training.
“We had a short‚ relaxing break‚ but we are keen to get going again‚” Specman said.
“We prepared well for this and the guys are getting sharper and sharper as the tournament approaches. We all believe if the team plays well‚ the individual will also shine‚ so it has to be a team effort first.”
After sellout crowds in Cape Town and Dubai‚ Wellington ticket sales have been slow‚ putting increasing pressure on World Rugby to consider a different venue for the third leg of the series.
Last week, only 15,000 tickets per day had been sold. The Westpac Stadium has a capacity of 34,500. At the Cape Town Stadium, more than 100,000 fans attended the two-day showpiece in December.
But despite the slow uptake on tickets‚ NZ Rugby sevens general manager Steve Dunbar told the local media they were happy with their efforts.
“The tournament’s had a lot of success‚ but we need to change it‚” Dunbar said. “We’ve done that.
“We’ve reduced prices‚ we’ve addressed entertainment‚ and we’ve addressed food offerings.
“We’ve listened to the fans‚ and we’re happy with where we’re tracking at the moment.
“We’ve got an agreement with World Rugby for three more years and we’ve got an agreement in place with Wellington Rugby for three more years.
“Our focus is to deliver a very good tournament‚ then we’ll go through a thorough debrief and we’ll look at things from operational‚ commercial and marketing‚ and we’ll make some decisions from there.”
The Blitzboks‚ who lost to New Zealand in 2016’s final at the Westpac Stadium‚ will face Japan (1.09am SA time)‚ Australia (4.33am SA time) and Fiji (8.18am SA time) in Pool B on Saturday.