CHASING GOLD

Mike Greenaway

The Blitzboks have tasted success already this season. Now it’s the big one…

SPRINGBOK Sevens coach Neil Powell believes his team’s recent Commonwealth Games gold medal in Birmingham will inspire it at the Rugby World Cup Sevens in Cape Town.

The Blitzboks also finished second overall in the HSBC World Series standings after a disappointing last tournament in Los Angeles, but Powell knows his team has the quality to go all the way.

“We showed that we can get into the right frame of mind to win stand-alone tournaments, like we showed at the Commonwealth Games,” Powell said.

“That is a positive and we need to have that same mindset come the Rugby World Cup Sevens. Much of that will depend on how we train and that will be the biggest focus of the coaching team; we need to make sure we can create that momentum in training that will be needed to do well in Cape Town.”

Powell, though, wants his team to digest what happened in Los Angeles and then focus on their preparation.

“We need to look back before we can look towards Cape Town,” he said. “There are lessons to learn, so to just discard what happened there will not be the best thing to do,” he said.

“It is more for our management; the players need to stay positive. The last game against Japan was much more to our standard and we will use that as a positive example of what we can do as a team to create some momentum on our way to Cape Town.

“Our consistency over the last five tournaments was not great, and it is a bit of a worry. We recovered so well to hit a high at the Commonwealth Games, but in the World Series, it became an issue. It is a worry because our consistency over long periods of time almost became a hallmark of the team.

“We will need to plan our sessions from here on in to make sure we get the best result out of every training session,” Powell added.

The Blitzboks celebrate their Commonwealth gold medal in Birmingham. - BackpagePix