Cape Town – The Blitzboks suffered their first defeat in 19 matches at the Dubai Sevens after going down 14-5 to Great Britain in their tournament opener on Friday.
It was another disappointing display from the Springbok Sevens side, who lost four out of five games at the Hong Kong Sevens in early November as well.
So, it has been a baptism of fire for new coach Sandile Ngcobo, who took over from the long-serving Neil Powell as the head coach a few months ago.
The Blitzboks had clinched the last three Dubai events in 2019 and 2021 (twice), having last lost there against England in 2018, and would have had some confidence heading into this tournament despite the difficulties in Hong Kong.
No the best of starts, so bounce back needed against @KenyaSevens in next game.
14-5 to @GBRugbySevens, well done.— Springbok Sevens (@Blitzboks) December 2, 2022
They were missing stalwarts such as Selvyn Davids and Ronald Brown due to injury, so it was surprising to see Ngcobo leave out seasoned campaigners such as Zain Davids and Muller du Plessis from the starting line-up against Great Britain.
The Blitzboks slipped too many tackles in the opening stages and the British outfit pounced, with Freddie Roddick scoring in the second minute.
The South Africans eventually found some rhythm on attack, but once inside the opposition’s half, they gave away a breakdown penalty, while Shilton van Wyk was also tackled into touch on another occasion.
But the Blitzboks fought back as captain Siviwe Soyizwapi earned a penalty, and JC Pretorius handed off Ross McCann to reduce the deficit to 7-5.
The South Africans, though, again lost concentration in defence as Tom Emery evaded a number of tackles, and Robbie Fergusson reached out to dot down.
South Africa dropped the second-half kickoff, and never got going as Soyizwapi, Dalvon Blood and Muller du Plessis lost the ball inside the GB 22.
Now the Blitzboks will have to get back on track in their second game against Kenya (1.20pm), before facing Australia (6.33pm) in their remaining Pool A fixtures on Friday.
Points-Scorers
South Africa 5 – Try: JC Pretorius.
Great Britain 14 – Tries: Freddie Roddick, Robbie Fergusson. Conversions: Tom Emery (2).
@ashfakmohamed
