With their title defence in Cape Town looming this coming week, the Blitzboks will head home with valuable momentum after claiming fifth place at the Dubai SVNS on Sunday.
Thanks to convincing victories over Great Britain and Spain on the final day of the opening tournament, they ended on a winning note that will buoy them for this coming weekend.
The strong closing performances helped steady the ship following an up-and-down start to the tournament and season.
Great Britain was dispatched 34-0 with South Africa scoring six brilliant tries, before the Spaniards put up a big fight, with the Springbok Sevens having to fight back after trailing initially. They closed out that game 21-12, thanks to a converted try by hotstepper Mfundo Ndhlovu.
“We used our opportunities much better on Sunday compared to Saturday and that delivered a better result,” Blitzboks head coach Philip Snyman.
“I am happy with our response today (Sunday), but Saturday was not our best day. The good start against France was quickly forgotten when Fiji outplayed us on attack, defence and physically, and we did not use our chances against Argentina.
“The performance on Sunday at least shows that we did apply the work-ons from the first day. The format is really tough, make no mistake, and teams can even win two of three pool games and still not make it into the semi-finals, but that was not our excuse. We were just not good enough on the weekend.”
Earlier on Saturday, the Blitzboks opened their campaign with a hard-fought victory over France before suffering a heavy defeat to Fiji and losing to Argentina, which dented their hopes of reaching the final.
South Africa started brightly against the French, opening the scoring and then relying on strong defensive work to protect a slender 7–5 lead. Tries from hot-stepper Donovan Don and Christie Grobbelaar pushed them ahead, although a late French try narrowed the gap.
The clash with Fiji, however, was one to forget. Playmaker Ronald Brown scored a well-constructed opening try, but the Fijians responded with four unanswered scores that left the Blitzboks rattled.
That final pool game against Argentina on Saturday was a dead rubber because both sides were already knocked out of Cup contention. However, the Blitzboks also lost that match to make it only one victory on the first day.
But Sunday brought a welcome turnaround.
They produced composed and clinical performances to beat Great Britain and Spain to secure a much-needed fifth place — exactly the kind of response they wanted on the second day.
Those results not only restored confidence as all the players put their hands up, but also provided a solid platform as the South Africans prepare to defend their crown in Cape Town, where they’ll look to build on this fresh momentum in front of their home crowd.
