Young Blitzboks show plenty spark
THE BLITZBOKS got a lot of things right in Vancouver, where they ended top of the podium in Canada.
There were brilliant team performances by Neil Powell’s group all the way to the final of the sixth tournament of the World Sevens Series.
The individual contributions of the youngsters, or less-experienced players, were particularly pleasing after the Blitzboks have had to bounce back from what one could call a player exodus, with Seabelo Senatla, Ruhan Nel, Kwagga Smith, Tim Agaba, Rosko Specman and Dylan Sage having left the circuit to pursue their 15s ambitions.
Selvyn Davids, who went into the Canada leg 10 tournaments young, was instrumental in the Blitzboks’ road to the final. He was an attacking catalyst as he created opportunities (remember that filthy, soccer-like piece of play against Wales?) and also scored crucial tries, most notably against Fiji and France.
He chowed down the BC Place pitch with his running metres, but he also played his part on defence. He had no trouble hitting the black dot from all angles with his conversions either (which helped him become the tournament’s top points-scorer). So it’s no wonder he was named Player of the Final and made the Vancouver Dream Team.
Davids refused to take all the credit.
“It was a great feeling to win after so long. It was the first tournament I played in that we’ve won, it was my first final,” Davids said when the team arrived at the Cape Town International Airport yesterday morning.
When asked about the try they scored thanks to that left-foot hook, the one that made sure the ball remained in the field of play after he had chipped the ball forward, Davids jokingly asked, “Which try was that?”
On a serious note the 24-year-old attributed that skill to their recovery sessions.
“We play a lot of soccer in our flush-out sessions, so I just thought I had to do something to keep the ball in the field of play. I don’t know what went through my mind, but it worked, so ja,” Davids laughed.
“Rugby is a team sport, so you can’t score the points on your own. I need to thank my teammates and coach Neil Powell for backing me to get more game time. If it wasn’t for my teammates I wouldn’t have been the top points scorer.”
Another firing young Blitzbok who made the Dream Team was JC Pretorius.
No surprises there. The threetournament young Pretorius tormented the opposition with his hard running and pace. So it probably came as no surprise when one of the commentators shouted ‘that man’s so hard he eats bricks for breakfast!’ after he used that physicality to shrug off a defender, place the ball and pick it up again to score.
It didn’t stop there.
Impi Visser did his physical thing, as in his first five tournaments, while Stedman Gans and Muller du Plessis added their own touches and fine finishes.
Kurt-Lee Arendse, a newbie who still played Varsity Cup rugby for the University of the Western Cape a few weeks ago, was named as the official reserve player for the Canada showdown.
And while one didn’t see enough in Vancouver to write a script that would rival the World Rugby lawbook when it comes to his abilities, he’s shown enough of that at university and Academy level.
And seeing as the team found each other in Canada, there might not be a better time than in Hong Kong three weeks from now for him to show that he can produce at this level as well.