After finishing ninth in Hong Kong a couple of days ago, the Blitzboks face a tough pool at the shortened Singapore event on Saturday.
Image: World Rugby
The road to redemption on the SVNS Series for the Springbok Sevens is blocked with Argentina and Great Britain at the Singapore event this weekend.
After finishing ninth in Hong Kong a couple of days ago, the Blitzboks face a tough pool at the shortened Singapore event on Saturday.
The tournament will be decided like the Cape Town leg in December last year, where only three teams will be pooled together in the four groups, with the top side after two games going through to the semi-finals. There will be no quarter-finals, so securing two wins in the group will be essential to progress.
It also means the Blitzboks could decide the fate of the Argentineans, current series champions, on Saturday. While Argentina are at the top of the log on 88 points, failing to make the play-offs could open the door for a team like Fiji (76) or Spain (74) to leapfrog them to claim the title after the final leg.
South Africa, currently fourth on 66 points, cannot catch the Argies, though, but the tournament could be a place to regain some confidence when they take on Britain (Saturday, 7.26am) and the log-leading Argies (10.44am).
South Africa brought in David Brits and Sebastiaan Jobb to replace the injured Quewin Nortje and debutant Gino Cupido, who will join the Junior Springboks.
“It will be good to join the boys and bring something else to the group, especially after the result in Hong Kong,” Brits said, ahead of linking up with the team in Singapore.
“Everyone wants to improve and fix the small things we got wrong. If we do that, we can get back on track. The team is not far from where we want to be and we want to go out and win another tournament.
“I won’t lie; I prefer this format in terms of playing just four games. It is better for your body and is less taxing. You feel fresher. Argentina is doing good, but we know we can beat them, like we did in Cape Town.
"Our focus needs to be on one game at a time. That is what we did when we won at home.”