The SVNS Series campaign started with a lot of promise for South Africa. The Blitzboks topped the standings for at least a week after beating Argentina in the Dubai decider last December.
South Africa looked to repeat their early season heroics in front of a lively crowd in Cape Town but fell badly short in the quarter-finals. In five other regular season events, the Blitzboks have struggled for consistency against the best teams in the world.
But after qualifying for the SVNS Series Grand Final in Madrid as one of the top eight men’s teams in the regular season, there was hope that they could compete for gold in the winner-takes-all event. They once again fought bravely but fell short of their goal.
The Blitzboks failed to advance to the semi-finals after failing to win any of their three pool matches. It was a disappointing result considering they were forced into one error in their win over Ireland on Friday, but Gavin Mullin scored the winning goal in the 18th minute to secure victory.
Moses Leo scored a last-minute try to give New Zealand a tense win over South Africa on day two, before the Blitzboks finally lost to Fiji.
As the players walked down the tunnel you could see how disappointed they were. Actually, let’s take a closer look. You too can feel it. The playgroup gathered together for conversation and prayer before heading to the locker room.
“The weekend didn’t go as planned. We had two great games where the effort was there, but in the last game we felt like we were not in the moment,” said captain Selvyn Davids. Rugby Pass.
“Fiji came out guns blazing. We gave them the ball too easily. I think if we had just had the ball it would have been a different ball game, but thanks to Fiji they came out and played us out of the park.
“We got off to a good start in Dubai and won the tournament. But how it went from there was quite disappointing. I think we just went down.
“Then after a few tournaments we came back up, our level of play went up a little bit, but I think our consistency was the biggest problem.
“We had two great games, maybe three great games, but we seemed to lack a bit of effort or focus in the quarter-finals. “It’s a disappointing season for us, but that’s how rugby works.”
South Africa is one of the only SVNS Series teams yet to qualify for the Paris Olympics. The Blitzboks will have one more chance to book their ticket to the French capital, but they will face strong and desperate opposition in Monaco.
Stade Louis II will host the final Olympic repechage event from June 21-23. England, Spain and Canada are the three remaining key state teams for the 2023/24 season who will be looking to beat South Africa in Olympic contention.
But the incident gives the Blitzboks hope. Although the SVNS series has concluded with its next season, there is still a lot of work left to do in the coming weeks.
“Qualifying is important for us. I think we need to go back to the beginning and start all over again with a positive attitude when we go to qualifying.
“I think if we go there with a negative mindset we’ll do what we’ve done all season and come up short and we won’t be able to afford that.
“Everyone wants to go to the Olympics, everyone wants to participate in the biggest sporting event in the world. So for us, it’s about putting this (important) work behind us.
“We still have another day tomorrow, so we have to think positively, come to our senses, and try again.”
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