As the curtain comes down on the 2023 HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series at the iconic Twickenham Stadium in London this weekend, the Springbok Sevens team will be keen to show what they can do as they still hope to gain automatic qualification for next year’s Olympic Games in Paris.
The Blitzboks face Great Britain, USA and New Zealand in Pool A of the HSBC London Sevens on Saturday, and according to Impi Visser, they want to finish the season on a high note by taking the positives from last weekend in Toulouse onto the pitch at Twickenham.
South Africa blew hot and cold in the south of France, but their big wins over Fiji on Friday – in pouring rain – and the USA on Saturday, have given the men in green and gold some confidence in the English capital, while they also know what areas need improvement.
“There were a lot of positives from Toulouse, especially our performances against Fiji and USA,” said Visser.
“We showed what we can do in difficult conditions against Fiji – the way in which we took risks and expressed ourselves – which was a true reflection of our talent. We need to take the momentum from those games into this weekend.
“One area we need to improve, is our restart receipts. We were not good last weekend and that is probably why we lost to Australia and Argentina. We could not get the ball when those opponents kicked on us and we need to sharpen up on that, so that we can run onto defences and play the way we know this team can.”
Visser said the Blitzboks are fired up to finish the World Series – that included a tournament win in Dubai, a heart-breaking semifinal defeat in Cape Town and a runners-up spot in Sydney in the first half of the season – on a high note.
“We want to finish strong after we’ve struggled in the last four or five tournaments,” said Visser.
“I also think it will be good for our confidence going into next season if we can go all the way and win this tournament, and hopefully qualify for the Olympic Games as well.
“It’s a big ask, but we are capable of doing it, so we’re looking forward to finishing the season on a strong note.”
Blitzbok fixtures – Saturday, 20 May (SA times):
12h07: SA v Great Britain
15h15: SA v USA
19h33: SA v New Zealand
HSBC London Sevens pools:
A: New Zealand, South Africa, Great Britain, USA
B: Argentina, Ireland, Fiji, Japan
C: France, Australia, Spain, Samoa