The BlitzBokke have been hard at work preparing for the upcoming Glasgow leg of the HSBS Sevens World Series as they face their toughest challenge yet in pursuit of being crowned World Sevens Series champions.
Neil Powell’s men hold a slender 4 point lead over Fiji on the overall log standings ahead of the Glasgow showpiece and he knows that the focus needs to remain on the task at hand and not the permutations regarding the overall Series.
It will not be an easy task though as they will have to get through a tough pool that sees them being drawn alongside 3rd-placed New Zealand, Samoa and Kenya.
“It is definitely going to be a tough pool – and tournament – but if you want to be the best in the world, you need to beat everybody. The key to our success will be to remain focused on our processes and to make sure we do the right things on the field. If we can do that, the result will take care of itself.
“Obviously our ultimate goal is to win the Series but we can’t let that get in the way of sticking to our plans in Glasgow. We know we have a very tough pool but our focus is on that 1st game on Day 1, regardless of who the opposition is,” he said.
Having all-but wrapped up a Top 4 place in the Series – and qualification for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio – Powell knows that a strong performance in Scotland will provide them with an added advantage heading into final leg of the Series in London in May.
“I think we can pretty much put our Top 4 finish to bed now as Australia (currently 5th on the standings] will need us to finish last in the 2 remaining events while they would also need to win both legs, due to the 38 point difference between us.
“It will take a massive effort from us to win the Glasgow leg but if we are able to – especially seeing that we have New Zealand in our pool and will cross paths with Fiji or Scotland in the cross pools – then we will have a nice advantage heading into the final leg in London,” he added.
Phillip Snyman (knee) and Stephan Dippenaar (hamstring) are the only injury concerns ahead of the upcoming leg and will undergo final testing in the coming weeks to ascertain their levels of fitness before the final team is named.
Before Powell enters his final phase of preparation, he will have his eyes fixed on the Varsity Sevens tournament taking place in Cape Town from 25 – 27 April where he hopes to scout future BlitzBok stars.
“Varsity Sevens is an amazing platform, not only for the players to showcase their talents, but for us as well. Here we have a chance to scout the stars of tomorrow and help along in their development by getting them involved in the Academy.
“Paul Delport – who is part of the Academy – and I will be there to scout a few guys who we will invite to training camps and if we see some potential in the players, we will look to include them in the academy. A tournament like this allows us to look toward the future and who knows, if things work out, they could be running out in the senior team in the near future,” Powell stated.
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