Sydney tournament a mental game

BLITZBOK coach Neil Powell has spent more time this week preparing his side mentally than physically for the challenge of the Sydney leg of the HSBC World Sevens Series.

After winning two of the three tournaments so far‚ the Blitzboks are well ahead of the chasing pack on 63 log points. Fiji are second on 51 and England‚ who are pooled with SA for a second successive week‚ are third on 49.

South Africa’s 17 wins out of 18 matches shows they are the side to beat but their stats also prove it. Most points (534)‚ most tries (84) and most tackles (394) demonstrates they are the complete package.

Last week‚ on their way to the Wellington title‚ they conceded a meagre four tries in six matches, which is unheard of at sevens level.

The Blitzboks have elevated the game to a new stratosphere and the other sides are desperately trying to catch up. It’s inevitable some of them will. Pool rivals England are the only side to have beaten SA this season when they took the Cape Town final 19-17.

“We used the early part of the week to get the guys back to zero and back to basics following our good showing in Wellington last week‚” said Powell.

“The second part of the week was used to bring back the smiles and energy. The guys need to start thinking about this tournament now and how they are going to enjoy it.”

Powell believes their opponents will generally be better prepared this weekend. The Blitzboks face Japan‚ Kenya and England in Pool A of the tournament‚ to be played in the Allianz Stadium. SA schedule (SA times) 2:20am: Japan 6:15am: Kenya 11:13am: England