Not about numbers for Senatla

HE SCORED 11 tries at the Dubai leg of the World Sevens Series. He was named Player of the Tournament at the Series-opener. And he is 12 tries short of breaking the all-time record for the most tries scored by a South African player. He is, of course, Seabelo Senatla.

The speedster was instrumental, as always, in the Springbok Sevens side’s triumph in the Arabian desert, and despite being so close to becoming the top South African try-scorer in history and surpassing Fabian Juries’s 179 tries, Senatla isn’t too focused on racking up the five-pointers. Instead, he just wants to “contribute to the team”, in any way he can.

“I think everything stands in the Lord. I don’t play for that, I play for the team. I try to contribute as much as I can to the team. Yes, if it comes, it comes, and if it doesn’t come it doesn’t come (the try-scoring record), but I think it would be great to see that happen in South Africa. Because we’re pretty close now, I think we’re bound to break it,” the 23-yearold said.

“I think it would be pretty nice for the fans to see it broken here. I think it could add a little bit to the whole occasion,” Senatla added.

The Blitzbokke made a clean sweep on day one of the Dubai event as they beat Uganda, Scotland and the USA to go into day two’s quarter-finals.

And on day two it went even better. Neil Powell’s men thrashed New Zealand 40-0 in the last quarter-final of the day, and also brushed aside Wales in the semi-finals to book a spot in the final against defending Olympic and World Series champions Fiji, who they overcame 26-14 to claim the opening tournament title.

It was a perfect start that Senatla believes will prove valuable for the Blitzbokke.

“It was a very good start to the season. This is what we needed before Cape Town. The boys have gained so much confidence from this title in Dubai. So we’re pretty chuffed,” he said.

The Blitzbokke were exceptional in almost all areas in Dubai as they showed impeccable speed and grit at the breakdowns, no shortcomings on attack or defence, and maintained their performances to the end.

And these sustained, complete outings were a result of the Blitzbokke aiming for perfection, according to Senatla.

“More than anything we were standing in front of ourselves, not anyone else. We just focused on trying to eliminate all the little errors and to do everything 100%. We try to strive for that.

“We’re glad we grew as a team, from day to day. We felt every time we walked from the field, we grew.”