Head coach Sandile Ngcobo was a proud man after the Blitzboks produced a much-improved display in Hong Kong, as they are now back in the top-four race on the Sevens Series standings.
Head coach Sandile Ngcobo was a proud man after the Blitzboks
The four leading teams at the end of the season will gain automatic qualification for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. As a result of the final standings in Hong Kong, the Blitzboks have been grouped with New Zealand, Australia and Hong Kong in a tough Pool A for next weekend’s HSBC Singapore Sevens.Pool B will consist of Fiji, Spain, Samoa and Canada, Pool C is France, USA, Uruguay and Kenya, and Great Britain, Argentina, Ireland and Japan are in Pool D. The tournament at Singapore’s National Stadium kicks off on Saturday.
“In terms of our efforts this weekend, I’m really pleased. As a group, we are very hard on ourselves, but we planned well, had a good week leading up to the tournament, and we started in a manner that gave us momentum.“We defended really well and forced teams to make hard decisions against us by eliminating their attacking opportunities. We can even be more selfish in keeping teams out – instead of conceding two tries, we must aim to only concede one, or better still, nothing at all.
Ngcobo also said with a little more luck, especially against New Zealand and Fiji, the Blitzboks’ fortunes may have been different in Hong Kong. In both matches, the South Africans were in with a shout, but just came up short. “We just want to put in a clinical performance, dominate and put our opponents away, and I believe we’re on the right path.”The Blitzbok coach was also full of praise for the three players who made their debuts in the pressure cooker of Hong Kong Stadium, with all three – Donovan Don, Ethan James and Sebastiaan Jobb – also getting on the scoresheet during the tournament.
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