Cape Town – The Blitzboks will most probably have a final chance at the Hong Kong Sevens this weekend and the Singapore tournament a week later to secure automatic qualification for the Olympic Games in Paris next year.
After a poor showing in the North American leg of the World Rugby Sevens Series, the South Africans (89 points) are seventh on the overall log but just five points shy of Australia and Fiji who are joint fourth on 94 points..
Only the top four teams at the end of the series in May in London will head to Paris without having to qualify via regional tournaments for the Olympics. France, as the host nation, is the other team who qualifies automatically.
Hong Kong is normally not a good hunting ground for the Blitzboks. It’s the only tournament that they have not tasted success in yet.
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But they’ll have to put this in the back of their minds when the team run out on Friday for their first match.
Three players will most likely debut at the tournament as the team looks for that spark that has been missing with the likes of Selvyn Davids, Dewald Human, Ronald Brown and Justin Geduld out with injuries.
Sebastiaan Jobb, Ethan James and Donovan Don will be thrown into the deep end on the Sevens circuit with the Hong Kong tournament seen as the most prestigious on the series.
But their captain, Siviwe Soyizwapi, knows what it feels like to debut in the Far East.
Seven years ago, he pulled the Blitzboks jersey over his head for the first time in the tournament.
“I remember my debut in Hong Kong like it was yesterday,” said Soyizwapi according to a statement.
“To play your first tournament for the Springbok Sevens at such a prestigious event will always be a dear memory for me.
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“And this weekend three more players will get the opportunity to make their debuts at such a great stadium and an awesome event.
“My message to them would be to embrace the moment of running out there in front of a packed stadium, to take in every moment and to relish the importance as it all goes by so quickly.”
The Blitzboks face Ireland on Friday (9.04am), with New Zealand (5.04am) and Kenya (9.25am) their other opponents on Saturday in what is arguably the ‘pool of death’ at the tournament.
Ireland and New Zealand, with their illusive strike runners, will test the Blitzboks heavily on defence, while there’s always pride on the line when the two African teams meet.
Soyizwapi says they just need to stick to what they know without trying to change their way of playing.
“We won’t be doing anything new this week, even if we have some new personnel – we don’t require anything different,” he added.
“The three of them are talented rugby players and they know how to play. For us as seniors, it’s just a matter of guiding them on the field in sticking to the game plan, but we also want them to express themselves to the best of their abilities.”
@LeightonK
