DHL STADIUM – Springbok Sevens have lifted the hopes of South Africans after smashing Great Britain 19-5 in their first match of the HSBC SVNS Cape Town on Saturday.
Three tries saw Sandile Ngcobo’s charges continuing where they left off in Dubai last week.
Quewin Nortje opened the scoring for the Blitzboks, followed by Great Britain’s Harry Glover’s try as the game went to the interval with both sides level 5-5 at DHL Stadium.
But it was the home side who showed resilience in the second as Nortje and Justin Geduld added two tries taking Blitzboks to 19-5 at full time.
Ngcobo has praised their game plan against Britain.
“We did well, 60% of what we planned worked very well. It’s obviously the first game but give credit where it’s due, said Ngcobo.
“Our subs are very tactical, they know what to do and they know what is expected from them. So, we did well this morning.”
Ngcobo says wearing the national team jersey there will always be pressure, this weekend no difference.
“There’s always going to be pressure when you are wearing the Springboks jersey, people making it playing at home is bigger than it already is. We know exactly what’s required from us, we just need to execute our plans.”
On the other hand, the Springboks Women’s Sevens things didn’t go well as planned in their first two match of the tournament.
Refred Dazel’s side lost 29-7 to France before being hammered 40-0 by Canada.
Dazel believes the loss was on them as they didn’t use chances in front of them against France.
“The first seven minutes were quite good, we were exactly where we wanted to be – we have managed to open up spaces and create scoring chances for ourselves,” said Dazel.
“We managed to put them under pressure and that worked for us. The second half was unacceptable the way we defended, we missed so many tackles, something we should have not done.
“The crucial moments that you get in a game, you have to use them. That second half was probably the worst half we had in the past two weeks.”
Full time: @Blitzboks 19-5 Great Britain.
#HSBCSVNS#HSBCSVNSCPT pic.twitter.com/qEMWCuZL2s
— Ayanda Frances Felem (@AyandaFelemZA) December 9, 2023
Springbok Sevens remaining fixtures – Saturday
14h18: USA
19h40: Ireland
Springbok Women’s Sevens remaining fixtures
12h06: Canada 40-0 Springbok Women Sevens
16h44: USA
Image: Blitzboks/ Twitter
