Blitzbokke playing for pride in Paris
If ever there were a tournament to lift the Blitzbokke spirits after last week’s seventh place finish in London‚ it’s this weekend’s World Series finale in Paris.
The City of Lights is where the Blitzbokke claimed a stunning second consecutive World Series crown 12 months ago by winning at the Stade JeanBouin coupled with Fiji’s meltdown. The Blitzbokke have little tangible left to play for this season after securing fourth place in the standings and with it‚ the final automatic qualifying berth for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
But under coach Neil Powell the Blitzbokke have always been performance-driven and not results-focused.
Fiji or the USA will win the overall title – only two points separates them – but the Blitzbokke want to win their third tournament of an inconsistent campaign.
Three new faces joined the squad on Tuesday‚ as Cecil Afrika‚ Dewald Human and Mfundo Ndhlovu replaced the injured Stedman Gans‚ Kurt-Lee Arendse and Selvyn Davids.
“We all had a good look at ourselves and what we did on the weekend (in London)‚” said star forward Werner Kok.
Kok said the review did reveal some good elements of play as well‚ and it is those that will be continued in Paris.