Cape Town - Playmaker Jaiden Baron has been called up to the Blitzbok squad following an injury to Zain Davids at the Hong Kong Sevens.
Davids fractured his hand in the first Far East tournament where the Springbok Sevens ended sixth after narrowly missing out on a spot in the semi-finals.
Now their attention shifts to Singapore where the team is aiming for another improved performance in their hunt for a spot amongst the top four on the table.
Automatic qualification for the 2024 Olympics in Paris is on the cards for the top four teams and the Blitzboks currently sit in fifth behind France. If they maintain the fifth spot and France stay fourth, South Africa will qualify automatically because France, as the hosts, already qualify.
Coach Sandile Ngcobo, was proud of his team's improved performance on defence and in keeping possession on attack. But a few errors at crucial times also hampered the squad.
“I really think we made a massive step up,” said Ngcobo.
“Of course, we are disappointed, as we know we’re a better team (than sixth), but we’ll hold our heads high and go back to zero on Monday so we can prepare accordingly and hit Singapore hard.”
Baron will add some extra firepower to the Blitzbok attack but losing the experience of Davids will most certainly hit the Blitzboks hard.
They are already without key seniors due to injuries and some moved on to Fifteens before the season started.
But the display in Hong Kong was way better than the performance they delivered in North America a month ago.
“In terms of our efforts this weekend, I’m really pleased. As a group, we are very hard on ourselves, but we planned well, had a good week leading up to the tournament, and we started in a manner that gave us momentum.
"We defended really well and forced teams to make hard decisions against us by eliminating their attacking opportunities. We can even be more selfish in keeping teams out – instead of conceding two tries, we must aim to only concede one, or better still, nothing at all.”
The defensive efforts against New Zealand, Fiji and Argentina showed an improved effort that was reminiscent of the Blitzboks of old.
If they can continue to step up in this department, and string a few good backline moves together hopefully without the presence of rain, Singapore can be another good tournament for South Africa.
The Blitzboks are in a tough pool with New Zealand, Australia and Hong Kong for the Singapore tournament.
@Leighton_K
IOL Sport