Blitzboks face tough battle for overall title

THE Blitzboks cannot win the World Sevens Series in Glasgow this weekend, but they could lose it with a poor showing.

South Africa lead the series standings on 129 points after seven of the nine rounds and have all but assured themselves a top-four place, which would guarantee them a place at the Rio Olympics next year.

But now that their primary objective is pretty much done, win- ning the overall title for only the second time in South Africa’s history is the focus for the team.

The Blitzboks are four points clear of Fiji and nine ahead of New Zealand – with Glasgow and London to come. But this weekend they are pooled with the All Blacks and Samoa in a dangerous group.

The Blitzboks’ worst finish this season has been fourth, so they will be confident of securing one of the two Cup quarterfinal berths from their pool. But games against the Kiwis are always tight affairs and Samoa are a dangerous team while Kenya, the fourth team in the pool, are also capable of causing an upset.

“We are in a very tough pool and will have to fight all the way to qualify for the quarterfinals,” coach Neil Powell said.

“Each pool match will be a knockout match for us, so there will be no room for complacency. It is important that we don’t get ahead of ourselves and think about the title race.

“The most important thing for us will be our first pool match, and then the next one after that,” he said. Star player Kwagga Smith said: “If we are in form, we can enjoy it [the last two rounds] as a team and play for each other, and there’s happiness and friendship in the team, then that is when we are at our best.

“We must stick to the basics and continue doing what we did to get to the top. We’re not trying to focus on staying No 1, but to focus on our own standard and not do anything fancy, this will in turn look after itself.”

Should the Blitzboks qualify in second place in their group, they will in likelihood face Fiji in the last eight. In the context of the tournament and the final destination of the title, that would be a massive, potentially title-deciding contest.

Stephan Dippenaar and Philip Snyman have both recovered from their knee injuries sustained in Hong Kong and return to the squad in place of the Carel du Preez and the injured Justin Geduld (hamstring).