South Africa’s Blitzboks made groot skande at the France Sevens over the weekend, failing to get out of the pool stage for the first time in nine years after losing to both Ireland and Samoa in Pool D.
Coach Neil Powell’s manne, who won the first four tournaments of the season, have not been in the best of form of late and lost in the quarterfinals of the Singapore and Vancouver. Those two tournaments were already seen as swak results.
So when they took the field in Toulouse, they had a point to prove.
Race to @WorldRugby7s title tight, but #Blitzboks still in it to win it 👇https://t.co/OIqEiu085B#BestOfUs pic.twitter.com/zrG31b6nLL
— Springbok Sevens (@Blitzboks) May 22, 2022
Captain Shakes Soyizwapi and his men couldn’t prove that point, losing to Ireland 21-12 on Friday, then beating Spain 27-17, before crashing out of the cup run with a 19-7 defeat to Samoa.
Soyizwapi says of their showing: “It is disappointing that we could not make the quarter-finals, but we just made too many errors against Samoa to put ourselves in a position to win…
“At times, you need some luck or the bounce of the ball to go your way, but it did not go our way. It is true though that we are not playing as well as we could and that is something the players need to fix. The coaching staff prepare us well for each match, but somehow we fail to execute properly.”
The Blitzboks then also falled in the Ninth-placed playoff, losing to Scotland 24-31 in their Semifinal clash.
Fiji, meanwhile, beat Ireland 29-17 in the Cup final.
Almost time....#BestOfUs pic.twitter.com/olpXJBI2Lm
— Springbok Sevens (@Blitzboks) May 22, 2022