Cape Town — The Springbok Sevens team is targeting key areas to get themselves back to winning ways at this weekend's Los Angeles Sevens tournament.
The US leg of World Rugby's Sevens Series is usually a good hunting ground for the SA team and a new-look side will be eager to keep that record intact.
Under former coach Neil Powell, the Blitzboks dominated the Las Vegas Sevens and after it moved to the City of Angels, they were victorious in the 2020 edition.
But under new management and with a bunch of new faces, the team will have a tough task to continue the success in the States. Only five members of the current squad made the trip to California last season.
Philip Snyman, assistant coach of the Blitzboks, said they are targeting some key areas to improve on their showing in Sydney about a month ago.
The Springbok Sevens made it to the final but lost to New Zealand.
“We want to be more physical at the breakdown," Snyman said in a statement. "There was a huge improvement from Hamilton to Sydney in that regard, so we are improving, but more work is needed.
"The one-on-one defence will be very important. The stats were not great in Australia, but we can cut five or six tries per tournament if we execute our tackles better.
"It is not a matter of structure, the guys are getting into position. It is rather the application – getting the tackle shoulder onto bodies and not just grabbing arms and jerseys.
“The same with the attack. In the last tournament we scored an average of four per game. But in the last one, the final against New Zealand, we did not get one try. So clearly we need improvement in that aspect of the game as well.”
In the Sydney final, the slipping of tackles against the All Black Sevens cost the Blitzboks dearly. They lost 38-0 and it's a result the team will want to rectify as soon as possible. The same with their performance in California last year where the team failed to make the Cup quarter-final.
They will have the chance to make amends for the Sydney final loss and to get a good start in Los Angeles when they face Ireland, Uruguay and Canada in Pool B this weekend.
IOL Sport