Dubai: South Africa’s Emirates Airline Dubai Rugby Sevens triumph provides the perfect boost ahead of their home Sevens event in Port Elizabeth next weekend, according to coach Neil Powell.
The Blitzbokke made up for finishing runners-up here last year to claim their fourth Dubai title, and their first since 2008, with a 33-7 defeat of first-time Dubai finalists Australia on Saturday.
Two second-half tries from Seabelo Senatla converted by Branco du Preez, put South Africa ahead after both sides were tied 7-7 at half-time, before Ruhan Nel and Cecil Afrika rounded off the win.
A Kwagga Smith and Branco du Preez try and conversion had earlier put South Africa ahead before Pama Fou and James Stannard restored order before the interval. Senatla topped the tournament top try scorer’s list alongside New Zealand’s Ambrose Curtis, while South Africa’s Werner Kok won player of the tournament.
Powell said the victory would set them up well for round three of the Sevens World Series in Port Elizabeth this Saturday and Sunday.
“Hopefully we can take this confidence and momentum back home with us and hopefully we can be successful there as well,” he said.
“I’m very proud of the boys, they really showed some good character out there and had great fighting spirit the whole day, not just in the final,” he added in reference to South Africa’s 28-0 destruction of record six-time winners New Zealand in the semi-finals, which had followed a 40-0 win over Argentina in the quarter-finals. In the group stages, they beat Portugal 36-0, Canada 24-12 and Wales 12-5.
“We always back ourselves if we get into a final and it’s still a close game to finish it off in the second half and that’s exactly what we did,” he added. “We always knew it was going to be tough against Australia, they are a hardworking team and never give up, so I’m happy with the way the boys came through in the second half.”
South Africa now sit second in the overall series standings after a fourth-place finish in round one of the series in the Gold Coast in Australia in October. With the top four teams from the nine-stage series qualifying to rugby’s Olympic debut in 2016, Powell said the strong start was imperative.
“Obviously we would like to be as high up the table as possible, so if we can continue this good start to the series it helps us a lot and hopefully we can keep it up and stay in the top four for Olympic qualification.
“There will definitely be a lot of pressure on us to perform now in our home event in Port Elizabeth, but we just have to handle it as we have done today and focus on what we need to do as a team.”
