Port Elizabeth – The Springbok Sevens team had little trouble retaining the momentum of the Dubai tournament as they comfortably advanced to the knock-out phase of the Nelson Mandela Bay Sevens with emphatic opening day wins.
Before the start of this third leg in the HSBC World Sevens Series, Blitzbokke coach Neil Powell spoke about the need to retain the intensity of the second day in Dubai, when the team captained by Kyle Brown scored a whopping 101 points against just seven in their three knock-out games. The first day is always a bit more low key than the second, and the Boks are sure to lift further today, but so far so good, with their first day performance here being better than that in Dubai.
In the first game, the US were the physical opponents that the South African coach had predicted.
The Americans further proved themselves when they hammered Wales, the second favoured team in Pool A behind South Africa, with a comprehensive performance later in the day.
They would have been happy with their first-half effort against the Blitzbokke, too, because they were down just 5-0 at the break before eventually the hosts powered away to win 26-0.
The Boks could have been in some trouble were it not for some excellent scrambling defence in the first half, but they showed good composure and their usual blend of power, skill and pace in the second to leave the Americans well beaten.
The first Blitzbokke match of the tournament will possibly be remembered more for a first-half incident involving a pitch invader than for the rugby played.
An inebriated-looking spectator came onto the field and tackled a US player as the Americans were defending. It took a while for most people to realise what was happening, including obviously the stadium security officials, for a couple of the American players got in some hefty kicks and punches.
Eventually, the spectator moved to the sidelines, where it took some time before the stadium security cottoned on to what needed to be done and he was roughly removed from the stadium precinct.
The speedy Seabelo Senatla was once again to the fore, lifting his try tally to 12 from two games as he crossed for the solitary first-half effort against US before adding a further two in a hefty 38-7 annihilation of fellow African rivals Kenya.
Senatla’s try at the start of the Kenya game was a gem, with the Western Province flyer blitzing through for a length of the field try that fuelled a boisterous atmosphere set by the pre-match singing of the national anthem.
All the players who excelled in Dubai were to the fore again, with Frankie Horne and company doing the creating and Senatla and the other speedsters the finishing. The Sevens Boks look well poised to retain their title today and overtake the Fijians on the overall Sevens Series log.