Blitzboks coach Neil Powell lamented two missed opportunities in their final against New Zealand at the Cape Town Stadium on Sunday.
The Kiwis edged the Blitzboks 7-5 to clinch the Cape Town Sevens and are now tied with the SA side on the World Rugby Sevens Series standings, after South Africa claimed the title in Dubai last weekend when they beat New Zealand in the final.
‘We had two good weeks, playing in two finals and winning one,’ said Powell.
‘That is a much better start than last season and bar the two lineouts we fluffed in the final, we had a good tournament. I certainly cannot fault the effort of the players.’
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Powell said the longer than usual pre-season helped his team to prepare well for the opening legs of the World Series, winning 11 of their 12 matches in Dubai and Cape Town.
‘We had the opportunity to get a proper pre-season in this year and that has helped a lot,’ he said.
‘It is unfortunate that we could not pull this one through as the Cape Town crowd has been amazing and we would have loved nothing more than winning in front of them.’
Ruhan Nel, JC Pretorius and Rosko Specman were named in the Team of the Tournament afterwards.
The Blitzboks will be back in action in the new year when they travel to Sydney and Hamilton between the end of January and beginning of February.
Photo: Ryan Wilkisky/BackpagePix
