The Blitzboks players and coach Neil Powell were disappointed by ending up with a bronze at the Rio Olympics, but now Powell has been granted a chance at redemption.
SA Rugby announced on Wednesday that the 38-year-old former Springbok Sevens captain has been reappointed for a four-year term, and will take charge of the Blitzboks for a fourth season when the World Sevens Series kicks off in Dubai on December 2, which is followed by the Cape Town Sevens on December 10-11.
The Blitzboks were one of the favourites for the gold medal in Brazil alongside Fiji, but came unstuck against Great Britain in a dramatic semi-final where they went down 7-5, having lost star finisher Seabelo Senatla to a wrist injury in the quarter-final win over Australia.
It was an anti-climax as the South Africans were probably the only team who could realistically challenge the Fijians, with Great Britain being thrashed 43-7 in the final by the South Sea islanders.
Kyle Brown’s team picked themselves up for the bronze-medal match to dominate Japan 54-14, which at least ensured that they left Rio with something to shout about.
Now they will start another four-year journey to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, although their first port of call will be the new World Series season and the 2018 World Cup in the United States.
“It’s a massive privilege and honour for me to coach the Springbok Sevens team as I’m passionate about the game and our country. I can’t wait to get stuck in as we aim to raise the bar even further this season,” Powell said in a statement on Wednesday.
With a number of top teams such as New Zealand searching for new coaches following the Olympics, Powell would’ve been inundated with offers to move elsewhere.
“Neil is highly sought-after on the international sevens circuit, and we’re very grateful and excited that he will remain at the helm of the Blitzboks for a further four years,” said SA Rugby chief executive Jurie Roux.
“The Springbok Sevens have consistently been one of the top teams on the circuit in the last couple of seasons, and we know Neil and his team are headed in the right direction. All of us are looking forward at how they tackle the challenges of the new season.”
The Blitzboks began training in Stellenbosch this week for the new season, and have been drawn in Pool B for the Dubai Sevens alongside USA, Scotland and Uganda.
“The guys needed the break and it is good to see them back here. They are keen to get going, but this will not be an easy couple of weeks. We are going to work hard and there is lots of hard work to be done,” Powell said.
“The main focus areas we want to work on will be strength, conditioning and fitness. After that we will start looking at skills training and game plans. We then have a warm-up tournament in Namibia (November) and then the season kicks off proper in Dubai and Cape Town.”
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