‘We will bounce back in Perth,’ says Blitzboks’ Oosthuizen

After a disappointing fourth placed finish at the Singapore Sevens over the past weekend, the Blitzboks are aiming for a much improved showing at the Perth Sevens Down Under, according to experienced campaigner Ryan Oosthuizen.

In Singapore the Blitzboks started well with two wins, but followed that up with three straight losses to exit the tournament on a low not, and Oosthuizen was candid when he admitted that he hadn’t enjoyed the tournament.

“When we flow, we are very tough to beat, we know that, but playing against ourselves like we did last weekend, created the opposite for us,” explained Oosthuizen about their poor showing.

“We have seen in Cape Town how tough it is for other teams to beat us when we get it right, so delivering a 40 or 50 percent effort compared to that was disappointing.”

Tricky pool

The Blitzboks have been drawn in a tricky pool for the Perth Sevens this weekend, alongside Spain, who they beat, and Fiji, who they lost to, in the Singapore pool stage, as well as Argentina.

Most of the focus since their arrival in Australia’s capital, has been on reviews, with recovery another early week priority and for Oosthuizen it was good to clear the heads and gremlins that crept into their game with some upfront discussions during video sessions and team talks.

“We are hard on ourselves, we work hard to get to a certain standard and when we do not reach those during a tournament, we don’t take kindly to that,” explained Oosthuizen, who will play in his 60th world series tournament and return to Perth for a third consecutive visit,” said the 30-year-old.

“There are honest conversations, with egos being put to the side and team demands and responsibilities ruling the conversations. It is good that the focus was on off-field stuff, recovering and getting the weekend out of the system. The coaches have the right game plan, we just did not execute.”

Pleased with discussions

Oosthuizen said he was pleased with the outcomes of all the discussions: “The nice thing about the meetings was that everyone accepted their mistakes, there were no excuses on individual errors, and it turned into a very productive meeting.

“Everyone realised we played against ourselves and were unhappy about that. We have moved past the finger pointing and all took responsibility. This is a good sign for the group.”

Although the Blitzboks were missing a number of their experienced players for the Singapore Sevens, the youngsters who travelled with the squad for the two legs now have some valuable experience, which will hopefully help them produce an improved performance in Perth.

“We missed some experienced players in Singapore, but the younger guys will be better this weekend, that is how you gain experience, to learn from your mistakes, something we all know now,” said Oosthuizen.

“That said, we are very eager to get to the training field tomorrow, get rid of the gremlins and arrive Saturday as the team we know we are.”

Blitzboks Pool A fixtures

Saturday 7 February (SA times)

5:58am – Spain

9:14am – Argentina

12:52pm – Fiji