A perfect storm gathered as the rain poured down on the Blitzboks’ parade in the fateful Cape Town semi-final against Samoa on Sunday afternoon, writes DYLAN JACK.

The Blitzboks’ quest for a first home title since 2015 fell cruelly short as they were literally kicked out of a potential final against old rivals New Zealand by Samoa.

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A tough playoff against a fired-up Samoa was made even more challenging as a storm that had threatened all weekend finally broke.

While the voracious home support continued to cheer regardless, the Blitzboks found the conditions less joyful as it forced them to play into their opponent’s trap.

The hosts cruised through day two by creating tries through patience, fast feet and clever kicking, they were forced to go more direct in the rain. Waiting for them was a Samoan unit that relished every hit and opportunity to have a go at the breakdown.

Members of Fiji’s squad sat in the press box to watch the semi-final and, smarting from their group stage defeat to South Africa, passionately cheered their fellow Pacific Islanders on. That energy seemed to transfer directly onto the field as Samoa appeared to grow an extra inch in size and were simply too good for the Blitzboks.

While the hosts eventually broke down the near-impregnable wall in front of them to force the semi-final to extra time, it felt inevitable that a mistake was coming. And come it did – almost immediately in fact – as Darren Adonis failed to grasp the first kick-off and, in a split-second loss of concentration, Shilton van Wyk played the ball from an offsides position, leading to the decisive penalty.

That’s not to blame either player, the entire Blitzboks team seemed off their game and nervy from the start. Passes were flung high, wide and into touch, if they didn’t go behind the intended target. There was an unusual sluggishness to the breakdown and, try as they might, South Africa struggled to engineer the chances that they did on day two in the impressive win against Fiji.

South Africans have seen this script play out before, though. The Blitzboks have not won a tournament on home soil in seven years. Be it in the quarter-finals, semi-finals or grand final, there always seems to be that one game in Cape Town where the hosts collapse under the pressure of expectation.

Is it unfair to suggest that there is a mental block when the Blitzboks play at home? Especially since they were high in confidence and flying in form after day two.

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The hosts weren’t helped by a tournament format that saw them play one game on Friday night, three on Saturday – including a 9pm quarter-final – and then wait until late on Sunday afternoon for the semi-final against Samoa. One can fully sympathise with trying to manage players through this and keep their energy, accuracy and focus clear on Sunday following a draining Saturday.

It’s no surprise that in the far better formatted Dubai Sevens, played over two days, the Blitzboks continued their desert dominance with a fourth-straight title. Getting the three pool stage fixtures out of the way on day one, and the playoffs on day two, is simply a better way to play out a Sevens Series tournament.

This not only gives the home support more of an opportunity to see the team they all came to cheer on, with less ‘dead time’ in between those fixtures, but also keeps each and every team on their toes. There’s no longer any hours to be whiled away on the training ground or in the team hotel. The games come thick and fast, so there’s no chance of rustiness coming into the equation.

New Blitzboks coaches Sandile Ngcobo and Philip Snyman deserve credit for the way they handled what would have been a mightily disappointing defeat. They could have blamed anything, from the unkind format to the referee or TMO, who seemed to go missing when Adonis was hauled down by his collar metres from the tryline.

They instead chose to keep the focus internal and graciously accepted blame for the loss. The two are growing into their new roles and are slowly implementing a new era by bringing through a bright generation of players – led by the ever-impressive Ricardo Duarttee.

However, the Blitzboks certainly could have been helped by a kinder format. That, combined with a bit of good luck, could have seen them finally burst through whatever block has affected the Blitzboks at home.

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Photo: Grant Pitcher/Gallo Images