This Sevens series about experimentation
by Gavin Rich 11 December 2015, 06:57
With the main focus being on the Olympics in Rio halfway through next year, Blitzboks coach Neil Powell believes there is less pressure on the teams participating in this HSBC Sevens Series to win each event, and more of a focus on experimentation.
The next leg of the current Series kicks off at the Cape Town Stadium on Saturday morning, and the decision to switch venues from Port Elizabeth to the Mother City to inaugurate the Cape Town Sevens has already paid off handsomely for the South African Rugby Union, with two full houses, and an aggregate crowd of 110 000, expected through the turnstiles over the two days.
So make no mistake, there will be pressure on the Blitzboks, for the stadium will be filled mostly with South Africans who won’t be happy if Kyle Brown’s men flounder in the quarterfinal round like they did in Dubai last week, thus taking away some of the local interest from the final afternoon and evening session on Sunday.
Powell, like Brown did early in the week, said at the team announcement press conference on Thursday – as expected, the two changes in the 12 are the introduction of Rosco Specman and Dylan Sage for the injured duo of Cecil Afrika and Werner Kok – that he was happy with the early form and adaptability shown by the recent converts from the 15 man game.
Francois Hougaard and Juan de Jongh started slowly but had picked up momentum by the end of the Dubai weekend, while Cheslin Kolbe and Ryno Benjamin, both playing their first tournaments in nearly a year, successfully fulfilled important roles in the team.
However, the South Africans are not the only team experimenting, and that is what Powell reckons makes this Series interesting. He’s wary of the changes that some of the other nations have made in their quest to perfect their Olympic challenge, and reckons it is making them less predictable opponents.
“Teams are putting a lot more emphasis on this season with the Olympics coming up,” said Powell.
“It’s a good and a bad thing. There’s less pressure on teams to win during this season, which means that coaches aren’t scared to experiment and try new things, but that makes them a bit more unpredictable, and also a bit more dangerous. “Everyone is pushing to be better and to get an Olympic medal, and that means they’re willing to try things out and not be so conservative in those tournaments.”
Powell was pleased with the performance of Sevens rookie Hougaard last weekend, but warns that he is still a work in progress at the new format.
“Hougi brings a nice vibe and energy to the team, he’s a go-getter and a fighter. He will fight for every single tackle out there. And he’s got good feet and skills. What he probably needs though is more game time and experience, and I suppose that’s the one positive thing about us being without Cecil Afrika and Werner Kok this weekend. We can give the new players more game time.”
One of the players under most scrutiny this weekend will be debutant Sage, and having a newcomer to the level in their midst will place more pressure on those players who either made their debut or returned to Sevens duty last weekend after a long absence to produce the goods in Cape Town.
Powell seems to be suggesting that winning the Series isn’t as important this year as it has been in the past, but his men will need a creditable showing over the next few months if they want to go into the Olympics with the required confidence.
In the past, like last year, the Blitzboks have started strongly, often winning either Dubai or their home tournament to get into the top placings before Christmas. In 2014 they were in a dominant position as they tucked into their roast turkey, as they won both in Dubai and in Port Elizabeth (the Gold Coast tournament, which they did not win, was early on the circuit last year so they’d effectively won two out of three).
So while Brown says he was happy with the Plate title picked up in Dubai last week, his men will be determined to improve in front of their passionate home fans and make some headway in their climb up through the four placings above them at this point.
It was undeniably Fiji who laid down the marker in Dubai, and the Series champions are confident they can continue their form this week. Their captain says that the South Africans, on their home turf, will be the biggest obstacle. The strips that the Fiji coach tore off his players in public earlier this week for showboating and not showing respect to opponents in Dubai could serve to make them even more dangerous.
However, there were a couple of other teams that made a point in Dubai, not the least of them the young England team that made it through to the final. They will be confident of making a rapid improvement as they gain experience, and the bad news for the South Africans of course is that England are in the same Pool as them. Their clash in the late game on Saturday (7.56pm) should be a cracker.
The South Africans could then be on course for another clash with the USA, who conquered them in Dubai, and they’ve been happy to acknowledge the improvements that the speedy Americans have made. So it should be an interesting couple of days.
