Blitzboks gear up for Sydney rebound
Neil Powell's charges experienced on of their worst legs in years last week in New Zealand.
Springbok Sevens coach Neil Powell singing the national anthem during day 3 of the 2019 HSBC Cape Town Sevens final match between South Africa and New Zealand at Cape Town Stadium on December 15, 2019 in Cape Town, South Africa. (Photo by Ashley Vlotman/Gallo Images)
There were some technical issues to sort out, but Springbok Sevens coach, Neil Powell, also needed to get into his Blitzboks’ heads this week in preparation for the Australian leg of the World Rugby Sevens Series.
The team has been drawn in Pool B in the Sydney Sevens, where they will face Argentina, France and Samoa at Parramatta’s Bankwest Stadium.
The award-winning coach – who is the only person who has won the World Series as a player and as a coach – reminded his charges this week of their abilities and the significance of trusting in their systems following a disappointing 10th place finish last weekend in the New Zealand Sevens in Hamilton.
This result was their worst in years.
“The most important thing was getting the confidence back up again,” Powell admitted.
“The guys were hurt and even insecure following our showing in Hamilton.”
Powell is highly respected and believes he has pulled the right strings with the squad, who won the opening tournament in Dubai and were losing finalists in Cape Town.
“It was just re-aligning everyone so that every player trusts the system again,” said Powell. “The system has brought us much success in the past, so there is nothing wrong there. It was the execution and adherence to the roles within it which proved costly for us.
“There were hard words to individuals, but restoring trust was the main thing and getting rid of the fear of failure.”
He added: “There were technical issues, like not winning restarts, conceding kick-offs and skew line-out throws, which were small things that gave away possession to our opponents, and we then had to defend, which tires you out.”
The Blitzboks were also found out by the new tournament format, which saw them being knocked out of Cup contention after just two pool games, and Powell is wary of falling in the same trap this weekend.
“Each match is a knock-out game, so we needed to change the mindset even more,” Powell said. “We looked at the stats and analysed that earlier in the week, and now the focus is only on Argentina. It is almost like 15’s rugby where you have only one opponent and you prepare accordingly.
“Argentina are pretty strong and they played well in New Zealand, so we need to make sure we are up for it. Individually we need to make sure we are at our best, and as a team, we need to trust the system, and it will look after us.”
The Argentina clash kicks off at 03:41 (SA time) on Saturday.
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