The Blitzbokke are back in action this weekend at the Vancouver Sevens, and Sevens stalwart Dylan Sage believes that it is only a matter of time before the Blitzbokke start firing on all cylinders again.
The Sevens side are languishing in fifth place on the World Rugby Sevens Series log at the halfway mark of the competition.
The Olympic bronze medallists run the risk of missing automatic qualification for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, which is guaranteed by a top-four finish on the overall series log.
But Sage, who made his run-on debut for the Bulls in Super Rugby over the weekend, said he is confident coach Neil Powell’s men will bounce back over the remaining five tournaments.
“You will always have that dip before coming up again and we can’t expect to be first every year,” Sage said. “We’ve been lucky the last couple of years but now we need to have patience in building up for the 2020 Olympics.”
Sage said the team has been weakened by the departure of Rosko Specman, Kwagga Smith, Ruhan Nel and Seabelo Senatla, and need time to rebuild depth.
“It is a tricky situation, we’ve been lucky enough to have a good squad for the last four years.
“We are trying to find our squad and it will take a bit of time for the guys to gel together,” he says.
“There might be a few up and down results but I think they will tie it together. I back coach Neil, he knows what to do there.
“The fans just need to sit tight and have patience. The guys will hopefully come through over the latter stages of the season.”