Blitzboks boss: We have to clean up our act

A disappointed Philip Snyman expects a clinical display from the Blitzboks today, after ‘sloppy’ decision-making cost them a shot at the Singapore Sevens title.

The South Africans crashed out of the trophy race at the Singapore National Stadium when Australia won a tense quarter-final (29-24) yesterday, scoring the winning try in added time after scores were level at the end of regulation time.

The Aussies led 24-5 with three minutes to go, but tries from Tristan Leyds, Christie Grobbelaar and Quewin Nortje helped pull the Blitzboks level at the death.

In added time, with the golden point at play, SA had a kickable penalty but opted for a scrum, which led to nothing. Moments later, Shilton van Wyk was sent to the sin bin for a dangerous tackle, which opened the necessary space for Nick Malouf to score the match-winning try.

“We were a little bit sloppy at the start, but the guys showed great effort and a lot of character to come back from 24-5 down with three tries to level the scores,” head coach Snyman said.

Also read: Brave Blitzboks bundled out

“In extra time, we had three opportunities which we didn’t convert into points, and maybe we could have taken one or two different options from our plays, but that is in the past now and we can’t do anything about it.

“We’re disappointed with the result as our aim was to make at least the semi-finals and although we came close, it was heartbreaking for the guys.

“We need to learn and make better decisions on the field, and be more clinical when we have opportunities.”

The Blitzboks will face series leaders Argentina for fifth place at 09:55, and Snyman said his troops will go back to the drawing board.

“We need to be clinical, but this team will have to rock up and show character tomorrow [Sunday],” he added. “We want to turn things around, play with the right mindset, and show what this Springbok Sevens team can do.”

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