The SA team have plenty to work ahead of this weekend's home tournament.
The Springbok Sevens team, the Blitzboks, had a weekend to forget in Dubai in the first round of the new world series after crashing out of cup contention early on and having to later settle for fifth place overall.
Coach Philip Snyman and his charges will hope for a better showing this weekend when the world series moves to Cape Town and the home leg for the Blitzboks.
The South Africans will be up against New Zealand, Fiji and Great Britain in pool play in Cape Town.
In the fifth-place playoff in Dubai on Sunday, the Blitzboks beat Spain 21-12 thanks to tries by Shilton van Wyk, David Brits and Mfundo Ndhlovu. Ricardo Duarttee converted all three.
While the South Africans finished on a high, they will not look back on the tournament with too much fondness.
They got off to a positive start in pool play on Saturday, by beating France 15-12, though there were signs all was not what it should be in the squad.
They then suffered defeats to Fiji (28-10) and Argentina (19-14) to be knocked out of the main draw and cup playoff places.
In the fifth-place semi-final they swept past Great Britain 34-0, before edging the Spanish.
Blitzboks look to be better in Cape Town
Speaking after the tournament Snyman said: “We were just not good enough on the weekend.
“We have enough to work on … how to play against the physically bigger teams and how to use our chances will all be improved on when we run out in Cape Town.”
The Blitzboks’ three pool games in Cape Town are scheduled for Saturday at 12.44pm (Fiji), 4pm (New Zealand) and 7.41pm (Great Britain).
“The cut-throat nature of the new format means there is no place to hide and every match will count as the teams aim to stay in the hunt for the title,” said SA Rugby CEO Rian Oberholzer.
“The Blitzboks recovered well in Dubai, but they will have their work cut out for them as they aim to defend the title they won last year in Cape Town, and we would like to urge our loyal fans and anyone else looking for some of the best entertainment to head to the Cape Town Stadium this weekend to support our boys.”
Cape Town pools:
Men:
A: Springbok Sevens, New Zealand, Fiji, Great Britain
B: Australia, Argentina, France, Spain
Women:
A: New Zealand, Fiji, Great Britain, USA
B: Australia, Canada, France, Japan
