Blitzbokke rue Sydney errors

Blitzbokke coach Neil Powell has called on his players to show greater discipline, after two yellow cards and a shaky defence cost them dearly at the Sydney Sevens.

Cape Town - Springbok Sevens coach Neil Powell has called on his players to show greater discipline in knockout matches after two yellow cards and a shaky defence cost them dearly at the past weekend’s Sydney Sevens.

Kwagga Smith turned from hero to villain within seconds as he scored a brilliant solo try that brought the Blitzbokke back into the Cup semi-final against Australia, which reduced the home team’s lead to 12-7.

But soon afterwards, Smith put in a high tackle on flying Aussie wing Henry Speight inside the South African 22, with Speight heading for the tryline. New Zealand referee Richard Kelly had no choice but to send off Smith, and that was the end of the Blitzbokke’s challenge.

To add insult to injury, Smith was suspended for the third-place playoff against Fiji, which came after captain Philip Snyman was already ruled out of day two with a shoulder injury sustained in the pool match against Scotland.

Having one player short proved decisive in the final minute when Dylan Sage burst forward into the Australian half, but he had no support at the breakdown as the Australians won the penalty to secure a passage into the final.

There were also a number of promising attacking moves that broke down due to poor option-taking and execution, while the Blitzbokke’ defence slipped several tackles that put the Australians on the front foot. The defeat ended a winning run of eight games for South Africa over Australia.

It was a similar situation in the third-place playoff for the Blitzbokke as Fiji ran up a 21-0 by halftime due to further defensive lapses by the South Africans, while Rosko Specman received a yellow card for not getting back the required 10 metres from a Fijian penalty.

Powell’s team fought back in the second half with tries to Dylan Sage and Sandile Ngcobo, which brought them right back into the game at 21-12. But Savenaca Rawaca clinched victory for the islanders with a late try.

“We must learn that those kinds of basic errors will always hurt you in knockout matches,” Powell said. “We were down to 10 men with Philip out injured and Kwagga suspended. So I had to play the newcomers against Fiji, and they learnt a lot from playing such a quality side.”

The consolation for the Blitzbokke was the fact that they still earned 15 points for coming fourth in Sydney, which placed them joint-top of the World Rugby Sevens Series log on 69 points with Fiji and New Zealand. Points difference sees Fiji first, with South Africa second.

Seabelo Senatla and Cheslin Kolbe also made the cut for the “Dream Team” picked at the end of each tournament, with Senatla scoring seven tries and Kolbe five in Sydney. Senatla remains at the top of the season’s try-scoring list with 25, three more than Fijian Savenaca Rawaca.

Workhorse Chris Dry, who led the Blitzbokke in Snyman’s absence, leads the most tackles list with 71.

New Zealand’s Ioane brothers Akira and Rieko – he scored a hat trick in the Cup final win over Australia – both made the Sydney team of the tournament as well.

Blitzbok coach Powell will be hopeful that stalwarts such as regular skipper Kyle Brown, Rayno Benjamin, Cecil Afrika and Branco du Preez will be back from injury for the next tournament in Las Vegas on March 4-6, where they have been drawn in Pool D alongside hosts USA, Canada and Wales.

Sydney Sevens Dream Team

Tim Mikkelson, Akira Ioane, Rieko Ioane (all New Zealand), Cheslin Kolbe, Seabelo Senatla (both South Africa), Ed Jenkins, Lewis Holland (both Australia).

ashfak.mohamed@inl.co.za

@IndyCapeSport

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