Dubai: South Africa coach Neil Powell reckons New Zealand’s sevens dominance will never be surpassed despite his side having just equalled the All Blacks’ record of six wins in Dubai with a 24-12 victory over the Kiwis on Saturday.
The Blitzboks retained their Dubai title and got their World Series title defence off to a perfect start with this victory, but Powell held back from claiming it was the start of a new era of dominance.
“I don’t think you’ll get a team that will dominate the circuit like New Zealand did in the past,” he said.
“You’ll get someone that will be successful for a year or two but there will be a change of guard quite often in the future and it’s obviously something we’d like to do, but the competition is so strong now among teams, so it’s going to be tough to be that dominant for so long.”
South Africa won five of last season’s 10-events to claim their second World Series title, since 2009, last season.
New Zealand, by comparison, have a record haul of 12 World Series titles since the format started in 2000. But due to the fact they haven’t won a World Series since 2014, or even an event since March 2016 in Canada — going a whole year without an event victory last season — many believe their power has waned.
“New Zealand are in that building phase and are only going to get better,” added Powell.
All Blacks prop Sam Dickson agreed that the next generation of his side were on the rise and re-emerging after this latest final.
“We’re a young team with new coaching staff in the first tournament, so we’re pretty happy with that,” he said.
“Definitely there are a couple of things to work on and learn from but against one of the best teams in the world — who are a very experienced side — and to have taken it right to the end, we’re pretty stoked with that, just disappointed to not actually win it.”
The series now moves on to Cape Town, for round two of the 10-stage season, next weekend, where South Africa will be looking to back up their Dubai win with victory in front of their own fans.
“It’s a good start in Dubai and this will definitely help us in Cape Town, but we need to put it behind us now and start all over again,” said Powell.
“Cape Town is a special tournament for us playing at home in front of our own fans. We slipped up last year against England in the final, so hopefully now we can thank our fans by going all the way this time.”
