Springbok Sevens speedster Muller du Plessis has his sights set on tournament bragging rights in Dubai and Cape Town with South Africa before linking up with the Sharks.
The second leg of the World Rugby Sevens Series kicks off on Friday, with the Blitzboks playing Great Britain (9.34am), Kenya (1.20pm) and Australia (6.33pm) in Pool A.
The action then moves on to the popular South African pitstop of the circuit, staged at Cape Town Stadium in the Mother City.
Du Plessis, who will join the Durban-based Sharks in a few weeks’ time, is keen to leave Dubai with some silverware and add to his tally of 63 tries for the Blitzboks.
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This tournament also holds special memories for the 23-year-old flyer, with two gold medals from two outings in Dubai, although in his last appearance a year ago, he sustained a leg injury that kept him out of action for close to six months.
“It is always a nice double, being able to play Dubai and then Cape Town, two of the favourite tournaments for most in the series,” said Du Plessis.
“I have good memories here and we are determined as a squad to make more memories. For me, it will also be personal, leaving the system.”
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Wearing the mantle of defending champions and nine-time winners of the Dubai Sevens is one thing, but arriving at The Sevens Stadium bereft of top form, playing in a tough pool and with a number of new players, is something else.
But according to Blitzboks captain Siviwe Soyizwapi, that narrative can be changed with a performance that the South Africans – and their supporters – can identify themselves with.
The Blitzboks finished seventh in the first tournament, earlier this month in Hong Kong, and Soyizwapi is adamant that they are better than that.
“This tournament came nice and quick after the Hong Kong performance,” said Soyizwapi.
“We came back, talked about the shortcomings and then went about to fix those issues. We worked hard on those and the nice part of it was the fact that the new faces in the squad worked with us, so they have a good idea of what we want to achieve this weekend and how we need to go about things to be successful.
“We know we have not lived up to the standards, not only for ourselves, but our supporters as well, and believe me, it hurts. The nice thing is we get another chance to redeem ourselves.”
Photo: @Blitzboks/Twitter
