Stand-in captain Zain Davids said playing with a depleted squad was not an excuse for the Blitzboks failing to win the Hong Kong Sevens title this weekend.
The South Africans’ bid for a first title at the Far East tournament was thwarted by Australia in the Hong Kong Stadium on Saturday, with the team in yellow outlasting a depleted Blitzbok side 15-0.
Earlier on the second day of the competition, Philip Snyman’s men outplayed Samoa 26-7 to top Pool C, but they could not find the same attacking direction without inspirational captain Selvyn Davids or Ronald Brown.
Brown picked up an injury against Samoa and Davids was suspended for a high tackle against the islanders. With Justin Geduld also out suspended, they faced Australia with only 10 players at hand.
That proved a bridge too far for the SA side. Australia managed to negate their opponents’ tactic of kick and chase, something that worked wonders all weekend and in a tight match, scored once in each half to clinch the win.
RECAP: Wounded Blitzboks knocked out in quarters
Nathan Lawson opened the scoring after two minutes from a good counter-attack, while Maurice Longbottom scored a try with four minutes to go. He converted the try and kicked a long-range penalty goal two minutes later.
“We trained hard back home in Stellenbosch and had scenarios like this worked into the sessions,” said Zain Davids.
“We were just not good enough in this match and that is very disappointing. We did not play 100% to our potential, that was our problem, not the numbers.”
Against Samoa, the Blitzboks showed good early momentum and held a 19-0 lead at the break. Tries by Shilton van Wyk, Quewin Nortje and Impi Visser eased them into a strong lead and although Samoa rallied in the second half, the SA side had the points in the bank.
The Blitzboks can still earn valuable log points on Sunday. They face Fiji at 9am in the fifth place playoff.
“We can still finish strong in the tournament and redeem ourselves,” said Davids.
“We had a good chat in the huddle now and everyone accepted that we did not play according to our standards and that the match against Fiji gives us a chance to rectify that. So we will come out stronger tomorrow.”
Photo: David Van Der Sandt/Gallo Images
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Src: sarugbymag.co.za
