Blitzboks in trouble at the World Sevens in Hamilton

England beat the Blitzboks 21 – 19 in their Pool B match.

Earlier, the Blitzboks beat Japan 31-5 in their opening game and they must now pin their hopes on Japan toppling England in order for the Blizboks to advance.

The team’s last pool game is against Kenya tomorrow morning.

Coach Neil Powell, has not minced his words in his assessment of the close defeat against England.

"We were not good enough, especially in the second part of the game. We had some control in the first five minutes, but after that we dropped our standards," said Powell.

"We made basic mistakes and a lot of them. We lost to ourselves as much as to England out there. We only have ourselves to blame for giving away the momentum and control and not being able to get it back again," added Powell.  

The Blitzboks started well, with tries by Stedman Gans and JC Pretorius putting them in the lead. Gans ran a strong line from a scrum and Pretorius sold the England defence a delightful dummy to add to the score.

The English came back with a long-range try by the speedy Dan Norton just before the break after a defensive lapse by the Blitzboks.

"That was bad yes, we cannot allow our opponents to score tries like that. We need to go back and have a hard look at ourselves on why that happened. It is not on if they run right through us from a lineout," said an honest Powell.

The second half saw more dominance from the England side. 

Powell said the Blitzboks now face the reality of the format, which could see them having to pack their bags.

“We can't complain. It will be the same at the Olympics later this year. We knew what the format was, so we only have ourselves to blame."

The match against Kenya starts at 01h13 (SA time) on Sunday morning.