Powell impressed by ‘massive effort’ from young Blitzbok squad

Published on

Neil Powell has praised the Blitzboks following their success at the Canada Sevens tournament in Vancouver, where they claimed the title in commanding fashion after beating Kenya in the Cup final on Monday.

In claiming the title, the Blitzboks delivered a masterclass throughout this past weekend, with a number of impressive performances in the pool stages on Saturday, as well as Sunday’s knockout matches.

They defeated Kenya, Spain and Mexico in the pool stages, before beating Spain (quarter-final), Great Britain (semi-final) and Kenya (final) in the playoffs.

“I am very happy and pleased with the performance the squad delivered,” said Powell.

“As a coach I could not have asked for more. The most pleasing part must be the way they played for the jersey and the way they worked for each other.

“One could sense in the preparation for the tournament already that there was a lot of commitment from the guys, and one could sense the hunger to just go out there and play. The Olympics aside, we have not played in the World Series for a year and a half, and the guys were really keen to get back at it.

“The players deserve all the credit. They really worked hard and did everything that was expected of them. Everyone executed in their role and responsibilities,” said Powell, adding that the team’s execution on day two was spot on.

“We played Spain twice and Kenya twice and won comfortably the first time around. That often creates a false sense of security, but the team did not fall into that trap and came out with an even stronger performance against those teams the second time around.”

The Blitzboks were close to unplayable in the final, leaving Powell a proud man: “The performance in the final was one the players can really be proud of. They took control from the start and never allowed Kenya to have a look-in. It was a massive physical effort.”

Powell pointed to the impact of the wider group, but also singled out the four Blitzbok debutants – Ronald Brown, Christie Grobbelaar, Darren Adonis and Shaun Williams – for their contributions.

“I am also very pleased for the wider squad effort,” said Powell.

“There were massive contributions from everyone in the system – the medical staff back home, the technical staff and this again showed the great work done by our SA Rugby Sevens Academy.

“The four debutants really played well and enhanced the reputation of the Academy’s ability to prepare players for the World Series. We will have a short rest and then get our minds on our next job, in Edmonton next weekend.”

Photo: @Blitzboks/Twitter

Post by

stagingsar