Senatla on song in Dubai

The Springbok Sevens made a great start to the defence of their Dubai Sevens title with a convincing 33-7 victory over Samoa.

The Springbok Sevens made a great start to the defence of their Dubai Sevens title with a convincing 33-7 victory over Samoa on Friday morning.

Stormers speedster Seabelo Senatla was the hero for the South Africans with two tries as the Blitzboks recovered from being 7-5 down in the first half to record five tries to the one of Samoa.

The Bok Sevens showed some rustiness in the first tournament of the World Rugby Sevens Series with a couple of knock-ons inside the Samoan 22-metre area that were missed try-scoring opportunities.

But World Rugby Sevens Player of the Year Werner Kok was a powerful presence for the Blitzboks as he surged up the middle on a number of occasions to give the South Africans great momentum.

Senatla showed good pace to open the scoring and finish off some good work by Kok, who won a penalty at the breakdown, with Cecil Afrika hitting the gap to put Senatla over in the corner.

But then Tila Mealoi took advantage of poor defensive work by Kwagga Smith inside the South African 22 to give the Samoans the lead through a try and conversion.

But the Sevens Boks soon found their groove, with Cheslin Kolbe producing some lovely side-stepping to flummox the Samoan defence, which led to them panicking at times and throwing loose passes close to their tryline.

Three further touchdowns from the South Africans – by Philip Snyman, Senatla and Justin Geduld – came as a result of defensive pressure.

But Bok Sevens coach Neil Powell will be concerned by the hamstring injury to star playmaker Afrika, who had an ice-pack strapped to his left leg, before their next match on Friday morning against Russia at 10.44am. The SA team finish off their day against Scotland at 5.12pm.

Scorers:

Springbok Sevens – Tries: Seabelo Senatla (2), Werner Kok, Philip Snyman, Justin Geduld. Conversions: Geduld (4).

Samoa – Tries: Tila Mealoi. Conversions: Mealoi.

ashfak.mohamed@inl.co.za

@IndyCapeSport