Blitzboks coach Neil Powell did not hold back when assessing his team’s poor performance over the weekend in New Zealand.
The Blitzboks lost 36-14 to Kenya in their final Pool B match and then went down 12-5 to Fiji in the 9th place playoff at Waikato Stadium.
These results, coupled with New Zealand winning their home tournament, saw the Blitzboks drop to joint-second spot on the overall World Rugby Sevens Series standings after three tournaments of 10 played.
The Kiwis, who beat France by 27-5 in the final, top the log with 63 points, followed by South Africa and France (48 points each).
It was a frustrating weekend for Powell, who watched as his team lost three matches in a row.
%%%twitter https://twitter.com/Neil5Powell?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Neil5Powellsaying it as it is. @FNBSA @CastleFreeSA @ASICS_ZA pic.twitter.com/cUL1yongHv
— Springbok Sevens (@Blitzboks)
The coach says: “We were just poor against Kenya, with our basics not on par.
“If you can’t even win kickoffs you are in trouble. We were also playing catch-up rugby from early on and forced the game a bit, which again created mistakes they capitalised on.
GUTTED: Coach Neil Powell. Picture: Ryan Wilkisky/BackpagePix.
“The unpredictability of Sevens again showed. “Sometimes you have a good week and a poor tournament, like this one, other times a bad week resulted in a good tournament.”
Series standings
1. New Zealand- 63
2. South Africa- 48
2. France- 48
4. England- 39
5. Argentina- 35
5. Australia- 35