Blitzboks assistant coach Renfred Dazel has revealed the plan to keep the team on its toes through a challenging Sevens World Cup fixture list in Cape Town this weekend. DYLAN JACK reports
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The Blitzboks will get their Sevens World Cup campaign under way against either Germany or Chile in the round of 16 as the tournament continues with its straight knockout format.
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From there, however, things will get tricky as the Blitzboks would be scheduled to play one of England, Ireland or Portugal in the last of the four quarter-finals at 10:33pm on Saturday.
“The format is a challenge, because we only have one game and that’s in the evening and then only one on Saturday,” said Dazel.
“We have prepared well. We either get Germany or Chile for our Friday evening game, so we didn’t need to do analysis on either of them. We know that Chile will be more physical and Germany will look to spread the ball a bit more.
“Normally, we would have single sessions every day on our training days, but with only playing [potentially] four games over the weekend, we will even have our captain’s run on the Friday morning of the tournament.
“We play at four minutes past seven in the evening and if the guys don’t do anything in the buildup to that game, they will be lethargic.
“We will use that captain’s run to get the balance right for that game against either Germany or Chile.”
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Only a handful of experienced players in the Blitzboks squad would have experienced the feeling of running out at an international tournament in Cape Town.
“The way the guys have trained and with the squad – there are seven guys who have never played sevens in Cape Town before – so that will be massive, but it will be important how we can calm them down and calm those nerves this week,” said Dazel.
After underperforming at the Sevens Series finale in Los Angeles two weeks ago, Dazel said the Blitzboks want to return to basics and win games with their defence this weekend.
“For us, we want to be accurate in the brand we have stood for over the last few years. That means being accurate in attack and defence. We want to control the game with our defence. That’s what is going to give you momentum through the tournament.”
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Photo: Twitter: @Blitzboks
