New mountain to climb for Blitzboks
After the world series title, another challenge awaits in a cutthroat competition
Blitzboks coach Neil Powell is not a man to dwell on the past, and in the relentless world of sevens rugby, where tournaments and games come faster than Seabelo Senatla down the touchline, he is already looking ahead.
The Blitzboks retained their World Sevens Series title in extraordinary circumstances in Paris last week when their archrivals, Fiji, crumbled under the pressure. And now the sevens World Cup looms in San Francisco next month.
Powell was more relieved than elated as Fiji gave up a seven-point advantage going into the Paris event. The Blitzboks needed to win in Paris — the 10th and final leg of the gruelling seven-month-long season and Fiji needed to drop out at the quarterfinal stage. Both outcomes occurred to give the Blitzboks the world title by two points.
It was testament to South Africa’s tenacity and consistency that they nipped in to steal the crown in their 60th and final game of the season.
With one job done, Powell and the players are enjoying a few days off before regathering at their Stellenbosch Academy of Sport base on Wednesday for the last haul of a three-pronged season.
The sevens World Cup is the third challenge of the year following the World Series and the Commonwealth Games — and arguably the biggest. South Africa have never won the sevens World Cup, so after scaling one mountain, an even bigger one comes into focus for the No 1 seeds.
The World Series requires consistent performances over 28 weeks. The Commonwealth Games (where the Blitzboks failed to win a medal) is a one-off tournament with a small margin for errors.
In other tournaments, one pool defeat isn’t the end of the road. But the World Cup is a ruthless, winner-take-all tournament that this year is being played on a cutthroat knockout basis. One bad game, no, one bad moment in a game, could end a team’s chances.
It’s no wonder then that Powell has been pondering not only the tactical approach to the tournament, but also the type of player he needs. He used 28 players throughout the 2017/18 World Series and has now built up enough data to know which players respond best to high pressure or which buttons to press to extract the maximum out of individuals.
“The mental profile of players will play a big part in our selection for the World Cup,” Powell told the Sunday Times.
“I won’t necessarily select a team based on experience for this tournament. Players are more likely to be selected on form. We can’t afford to go to a tournament like this — which doesn’t have a pool phase — and give a player a few games to get into form. Mentally we have to be in a different place for the World Cup, which was something we got wrong for the Commonwealth Games.”
Powell has also dismissed any chance of an out of the blue selection for the World Cup — someone like Cheslin Kolbe, for instance.
“Sevens has become so position-specific that we will almost certainly choose from the 28 players we have at our disposal currently,” Powell said.
“Seabelo (Senatla), who is back with the Stormers, and Kwagga Smith from the Lions are two we would consider for the World Cup. But Seabelo has a groin injury and might not be ready anyway.
“We have to have a conversation with Kwagga and the Lions. But the Lions are in a play-off position in Super Rugby, so it’s going to be difficult freeing Kwagga up. The World Cup is on the same weekend as the Super Rugby quarterfinals.”
In the World Cup 24 teams compete, but as the top seeds by rankings accumulated after the 2016/17 World Sevens Series and the first seven rounds of the 2017/18 Series, the Blitz Boks will have a bye into the round of 16. They will face the winner of Ireland against Chile.
If they win that match, South Africa are on a collision course with African rivals Kenya in the quarterfinals and should they advance to the semifinals, they will most likely play against either England or hosts the US.
The schedule will allow South Africa to avoid Fiji and New Zealand until the final, if they get that far. The two Pacific nations are in the other half of the draw.