When to watch the Blitzboks this Saturday
Yesterday at 02:07 AM
The Blitzboks suffered a dire ninth-place finish at last weekend’s Hong Kong Sevens, with defeats to Australia and New Zealand leaving them to contest the minor placings for the first time in the season.
Despite their lowly finish, the Blitzboks are still fourth on the overall series standings, but they have lost ground to leaders Argentina, who won in Hong Kong, while the teams behind South Africa closed the gap.
It also places extra importance on securing a much-improved result at the Singapore Sevens this weekend, where the Blitzboks face Great Britain and Hong Kong champions Argentina in their pool.
The Singapore format will be the same as it was in Cape Town in December, with teams only playing two pool matches, with the four group winners progressing straight to the semi-finals.
Blitzboks match schedule in Singapore (SA times):
Saturday 5 April:
07h26: Great Britain
10h44: Argentina
Springbok Sevens squad for Singapore:
#2 Ryan Oosthuizen – 54 tournaments, 230 points (46 tries)
#3 Impi Visser (co-captain) – 44 tournaments, 225 points (45 tries)
#4 Zain Davids – 51 tournaments, 225 points (45 tries)
#5 Ricardo Duarttee – 17 tournaments, 276 points (21 tries, 84 conversions, 1 penalty goal)
#8 Selvyn Davids (co-captain) – 40 tournaments, 719 points (94 tries, 123 conversions, 1 penalty goal)
#10 Dewald Human – 30 tournaments, 305 points (27 tries, 85 conversions)
#11 Siviwe Soyizwapi – 58 tournaments, 780 points (156 tries)
#12 Shilton van Wyk – 25 tournaments, 240 points (48 tries)
#15 Donavan Don – 8 tournaments, 59 points (11 tries, 2 conversions)
#16 Sebastiaan Jobb – 3 tournaments, 15 points (3 tries)
#19 David Brits – 7 tournaments, 40 points (8 tries)
#21 Zander Reynders – 4 tournaments, 0 points
#24 Tristan Leyds – 9 tournaments, 114 points (14 tries, 22 conversions)
In squad news, David Brits and Sebastiaan Jobb were called up to join the squad in Singapore, replacing the injured Quewin Nortje and Gino Cupido respectively.
Brits has clear objectives for this trip to Singapore, his first since joining the Blitzboks: "I will bring some smiles and lots of energy with me, that is for sure. The guys will also be happy to see a familiar face or two from home after almost two weeks on tour.
"Our performances were not the usual standard, so the mood will be down. That is professional sport for you, the highest of highs, but also the lowest of lows. But they will be back, this team is good enough, as they have shown in the past, to play and win finals.
“We know that if we are at our best, we can beat anyone. Last weekend, we had some lapses, teams targeted us at the breakdowns and we battled to get decent possession. But that is done now, we will start this week with a clean slate and determined to deliver a great result."
HOW DO YOU THINK THE SA SIDE WILL PERFORM THIS WEEKEND?
Let us know by leaving a comment below, or send a WhatsApp to 060 011 0211.
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