Captain Siviwe Soyizwapi is concerned about the potential impact of pitch conditions at Cape Town Stadium when the Blitzboks take on Ireland in the Sevens World Cup late on Saturday night. DYLAN JACK reports.
The Blitzboks shrugged off any pre-tournament nerves to thrash minnows Chile in the final World Cup round of 16 clash in Cape Town on Friday evening.
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While the stadium wasn’t exactly packed to capacity, with more fans expected to attend on Saturday, the Blitzboks still ran out to a roar, repeated every time the hosts crossed the tryline or made a big hit.
“Coming out at Cape Town Stadium, having the Sevens back in town, it’s always a great atmosphere,” said Soyizwapi after the match. “We are really grateful and just want to thank our supporters, who never disappoint. It was electric out there and it provided some really great energy to feed off.”
The Blitzboks scored six tries in their 32-5 victory, with Angelo Davids grabbing a brace, while Ronald Brown, Sako Makata, Mfundo Ndlovu and Christie Grobbelaar also got on the scoresheet.
The home side cut through the South Americans from the first minute, in particular using their kicking game to good effect, with Selvyn Davids, Muller du Plessis and Brown all setting up tries using kicks in behind the defence.
“The team is always chasing perfection and that effort is what we look to from each player,” said Soyizwapi. “Those are part of the things that we train back in Stellenbosch and we are looking to perfect them with each game. Luckily it came off for us tonight.”
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The major concern for the Blitzboks captain, however, was around the pitch at Cape Town Stadium, which caused havoc with the home side’s defensive game.
“It was a good game and a good start to the tournament, but there is always something to work on. Our defence, particularly. There was a lot of momentum that we gave away there. Without blaming the conditions, it was greasy underfoot and we slipped a few tackles, which is something we are going to have to work on.
“It’s going to be even trickier tomorrow evening. We are playing at a later time, so we are just going to have to look at how we approach the conditions. We are just going to have to adapt.
“We pride ourselves on defence and it’s part of our team identity to have that contact dominance.”
The Blitzboks face Ireland in the championship quarter-finals at 10.35pm on Saturday.
Photo: Grant Pitcher/Gallo Images
