There’s one thing Dylan Sage has made perfectly clear - the Blitzboks only get one chance to play at home, and they need to make use of it.
The Blitzboks will go into the Cape Town leg of the World Sevens Series after coming out on top in Dubai, but as Sage, who has played in 25 tournaments would be able to tell you, those opening results won’t count for much in Cape Town. It’s a new tournament, it’s another opportunity, and one that simply cannot go to waste. “Cape Town is that one chance we get to play at home, and we need to use that opportunity,” said Sage.
“It is a great event, always a sell-out and the organisers always make sure that there are lots of things keeping the crowds entertained.”
The Dubai event was Sage’s first appearance on the circuit in three years. He made his Springbok Sevens debut in 2015, but missed out in 2017 due to injury. Last year, it was his Super Rugby commitments that kept him away from the series.
But that doesn’t mean Sage needs any more time to get right back into things at Cape Town Stadium.
“We have closed the door on Dubai and will start the week fresh. New challenges await in Cape Town. We have a tough pool and the teams will be coming for us, so will have to be ready for that,” Sage said.
Springbok Sevens coach, Neil Powell, has added Hacjivah Dayimani to the Blitzbok squad for the tournament. He replaces Christie Grobbelaar who travelled to Dubai as 13th player. Powell will name his final 12-man tournament squad on Thursday.
The Cape Town Sevens Pools are:
Pool A: South Africa, USA, Fiji, Japan
Pool B: New Zealand, Argentina, Canada, Wales
Pool C: England, France, Spain, Scotland
Pool D: Samoa, Australia, Ireland, Kenya