Olympics a driver and a distraction for Blitzboks

If the Blitzboks go on to win the World Rugby Sevens Series as well as the Olympic gold medal they so covet, the abridged Currie Cup will probably be due a significant part of their gratitude.

On the eve of the team’s departure for Dubai, United Arab Emirates, for the start of the Sevens series this week, Blitzboks coach Neil Powell said his team was much better prepared than they were last year, where they finished fourth in qualifying for next year’s Olympic Games in Japan.

He attributed this to the fact that this year’s Currie Cup season finished on September 7, seven weeks or so before it usually does.

“Usually, the Currie Cup would only finish at the end of October. Then we needed to give the guys time off to recover, which meant we would only have two weeks with those players prior to Dubai,” Powell said.

“This made it difficult to get our 15s players to get rid of their 15s habits and pick up the Sevens habit. This time, we were able to give them three weeks off and started working with them in October to get rid of those 15s habits.

“The other thing is, last year we couldn’t play any warm-up games. This year, we played three warm-up tournaments, which was great because, when you train, you never know what things you still need to work on. But as soon as you go into tournaments, you play games, make mistakes and know what you have to work on.”

With the Olympics only beginning on July 24, there is a danger the Blitzboks won’t be well prepared. It could come back to haunt them when they need to peak again to improve on the bronze medal they clinched at the Rio Olympics in 2016.

“It’s a balance we need to get right in terms of how we manage the players through the season. You cannot let 10 players play in all 10 tournaments and the Olympics. To make sure that they’ll have energy when we get to the Olympics, we’re going to have to manage the players, especially the core group we think we’ll take to the Olympics, by sometimes not selecting them,” Powell said.

“We do have a plan in place for those players. It’s a good plan on paper, but sometimes it’s difficult to implement it 100% because of injuries or player availability.”

One thing they won’t be short of is playing talent, what with the SA Rugby Sevens Academy side loaded with superstars such as Werner Kok, Cecil Afrika, Stedman Gans and Branco du Preez. Newly minted 15s world champions Cheslin Kolbe and Kwagga Smith also want to return to Japan for more gold.

Siviwe Soyizwapi will again lead a team that sees Seabelo Senatla, Dylan Sage, Rosko Specman, Justin Geduld and Ruhan Nel back, with the likes of Ryan Oosthuizen, JC Pretorius and Kurt-Lee Arendse back to build on the promise they showed last season.

Having had many 15s players who had never played the Sevens format jump at the opportunity to win Olympic gold in the past, Powell and his staff have steered clear of those who haven’t played Sevens before, with only gifted Lions loose forward Hacjivah Dayimani – who is in the academy squad and could make his full debut in Cape Town – being given that opportunity.

All told, selection should present Powell with enough headaches this season.

“It’s going to be tough. These are decisions I wish I didn’t have to make a few months from now, but, unfortunately, it’s part of the coach’s job. It’s a good problem to sit with. We’ve asked all four of the senior guys in the academy team to make the decision as tough as they possibly can for us, and we’ll do everything in our power to give them the best opportunity to make it through to the Olympics. It’s going to be tough to select those 13 players for the Olympics.”

That said, the riches in talent should mean loftier goals.

“In terms of our focus, it’s a difficult season with the Olympics looming after the series. It’s important for us not to focus on the Olympics, but rather to shift our focus to the Olympics closer to the time.

“We’ll try to get what we want out of the first six tournaments. It’s only in the last four events that we’ll focus on the Olympics.”

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