Blitzboks stars Chris Dry and Justin Geduld say they are both looking toward their home crowd to boost the team during the Cape Town Sevens this weekend.
Both Dry and Geduld have endured the high and lows of playing in the home leg of the World Sevens Series. In 2016, Justin Geduld missed a crucial conversion in the final of the Cape Town Sevens and left the field close to tears.
Meanwhile, Dry hobbled off in 2018 in distress after snapping his knee ligaments, ruling him out for the remainder of the series.
The Blitzboks, though, enjoy nothing more than returning that compliment to their supporters, and Dry said their enjoyment is enhanced by playing at home.
‘It is that energy you get from the crowd that makes playing at home so great – nothing lifts you like the Cape Town crowd,’ Dry explained.
‘Even [on Tuesday], during our open training session, one could feel the difference as the crowds are there for you.
‘We want to enjoy ourselves, and being at home makes the enjoyment so much greater,’ said Dry.
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Geduld agrees with the energy coming from the crowd.
‘Even at training, with the people coming out to watch us, you can feel it in the air and that is great.
‘The crowd does not always know that, but that extra burst of energy does have an effect. The weekend, like every other one on the circuit, will again be very competitive and that extra burst of energy provided by the crowd gives you that extra metre.’
Both players are reluctant to use last weekend’s win in Dubai as a measure for the expectations of the Cape Town Sevens this weekend.
‘The margins are tight and because of that, you need to improve all the time. If we don’t improve from last week, we will not get the same result, such is the competitiveness,’ said Geduld.
Dry elaborated: ‘We did good things in Dubai, but we also need to step up in certain areas. You never play the perfect match, so you can never be 100% happy with any effort.’
Photo: Ryan Wilkisky/BackpagePix
