Victorious Springbok Sevens Captain Mzwandile Stick joins Marius Schoeman who exited the international Sevens scene on a high and shares their thoughts with us. (video)
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Mzwandile Stick, South Africa captain
“We’ve never been number one before, New Zealand have always dominated the Series, but now we have a new name on the trophy so we just want to enjoy this moment and forget about the (Edinburgh) final now (where they lost 20-19 against Fiji).
“It means a lot to us. I have been playing for six years, Marius (Schoeman) has been playing for nine years, and now he is going to retire so finally we have something for him.
“It was a great feeling just to get my hands on that trophy.
“I think the start of the season was the most important thing for us. To start well in Dubai and then go to George and do so well, that set the foundation for our season.”
Marius Schoeman, veteran of nine seasons with South Africa Sevens and now retiring
“Nine years is a long time and it’s just awesome to finally get our hands on the trophy after a few years of very, very hard work.
“I don’t think it’s sunk in yet but tomorrow morning at the airport with the hangover it probably will!
“We’re just glad we can give something back to the rugby community in South Africa. They are always supporting us and we’re just glad to repay them.
Gordon Tietjens, New Zealand coach and eight-time winner of the World Series
“It’s a long season, 12 months to go without winning a tournament, but we finished on a positive note (winning the Plate against Australia).
“Out of these last two tournaments, I’ve found three or four players to put in the bank for next year, which is great.
“It’s about handling the pressure matches when it really matters and we’ll certainly know about that next year. But you can never take this experience away from them, which is great.
“I talked to (South Africa coach) Paul Treu and told them they deserve it.
“There are four or five teams now that can win a World Series and it probably just confirms how good we have been over the last few years to win eight of them. It’s been a great result for us, but it’s not to be this year.
“You get these years and who knows, next year might be another one like this for us, you just don’t know.
“It’s going to be really competitive and it’s going to get harder but I’ll be back next year.”
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