Powell: Blitzboks have room for improvement in Dubai
Blitzbok coach Neil Powell said afterward that although his side played well on attack, they somehow could not get into their full stride.
The Springbok Sevens were too strong for Great Britain and won their Pool A decider 21-7 on Friday evening to finish unbeaten on the first day of the second HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series tournament in Dubai.
Their third win of the day booked the Blitzboks a date with Kenya in Saturday’s quarter-final action, which will kick off at 08h50 (SA time) in The Sevens Stadium.
On a dramatic day that saw double Olympic champions Fiji miss out on the Cup quarter-finals for only the second time in World Series history, South Africa extended their record winning streak to 21 matches.
ALSO READ: Blitzbok legend’s rugby jerseys stolen from storage facility
Blitzbok coach Neil Powell said afterward that although his side played well on attack, they somehow could not get into their full stride.
“Maybe that was due to our form of last weekend, with the teams coming out to throw everything at you,” said Powell.
Powell also pointed to some missed opportunities, such as a forward pass just before halftime against Ireland and their failure to score against Great Britain when their opponents had a man in the sin bin.
Powell was, however, encouraged by their defensive effort: “I think we really worked hard on our defensive system, although there is still some room for improvement.”
Regarding the weeken's quarter-final against Kenya in the knockout stages, Powell said: “An African derby will always be a physical one, so we have to make sure we make our tackles – we will have to make those one-on-ones stick.”
Against Great Britain, South Africa scored three converted tries through Zain Davids, Shilton van Wyk, and Ronald Brown, while Branco du Preez (2) and Brown added the conversions. Alex Davis scored the only British try while Robbie Fergusson slotted the extras.
In their first match of the day, the Springbok Sevens scored eight tries in their 48-0 victory over Japan to start their quest for a second tournament win in two weeks. Interestingly, all of the eight tries were scored by a different player, with the Blitzboks scoring 24 unanswered points in each half.