Durban - The Blitzboks are confident they can gain automatic qualification for next year’s Paris Olympics by polishing up on their performance in last week’s France Sevens at this weekend’s London Sevens.
The Blitzboks face Great Britain, USA and New Zealand in Pool A of the London Sevens on Saturday, and according to Impi Visser, they want to finish the season on a high by taking the positives from last weekend in Toulouse onto the pitch at Twickenham.
South Africa blew hot and cold in the south of France, but their big wins over Fiji on Friday – in pouring rain – and the USA, have given the team in green and gold some confidence in the English capital, while they also know what areas need improvement.
“There were a lot of positives from Toulouse, especially our performances against Fiji and USA,” said Visser.
“We showed what we can do in difficult conditions against Fiji. The way in which we took risks and expressed ourselves was a true reflection of our talent. We need to take the momentum from those games into this weekend.
🇿🇦 Ready to make South Africa proud
— Springbok Sevens (@Blitzboks) May 17, 2023
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“One area where we need to improve is our restart receipts. We were not good last weekend and that is probably why we lost to Australia and Argentina. We could not get the ball when they kicked at us. We need to sharpen up on that so that we can run at defences and play the way we know we can.”
Visser said the Blitzboks are fired up to finish the World Sevens Series on a high after having won the Dubai tournament and finishing runners-up in Sydney in the first half of the season.
“We want to finish strong after we struggled in the last four or five tournaments,” said Visser.
“I also think it will be good for our confidence going into next season if we can go all the way and win this tournament, and hopefully qualify for the Olympic Games as well.
“It’s a big ask, but we are capable of doing it, so we’re looking forward to finishing the season on a strong note.”
@MikeGreenaway67