Samoa delivered a powerful performance to beat South Africa 47-0 at the Glasgow Sevens on Sunday, and in doing so eliminated the Blitzbokke from the penultimate HSBC Sevens World Series tournament of the season.
Brown out of London Sevens
More bad news for injury-hit South Africa is that Kyle Brown, the inspirational Springbok Sevens captain, look set to miss the final tournament of the season next week in London after he sustained an ankle injury on Saturday.
Four tries put Samoa in control and 28-0 ahead at half time in the first Plate semi-final, after both teams had lost their Cup quarter-final matches – South Africa against England and Samoa against Fiji. South Africa simply have no answer to Samoa, the islanders scoring seven tries with Tom Iosefo scoring a first half hat-trick.
Earlier in the day the Blitzbokke nearly snatched a victory over England before losing 19-14. South Africa, already missing the services of Cecil Africa, Mark Richards, Paul Delport and Boom Prinsloo through injury, also lost their skipper who did not play on Sunday.
SA-born Matt Turner scored twice and the speedy Dan Norton added a third for England, who led 12-0 at the break. Cornal Hendricks and Branco du Preez scored for South Africa, while Steven Hunt was pulled down just before the try line for what would have been the match-winning score.
Paul Treu’s team must now regroup for the final World Series tournament next weekend in England.
“I’m hugely disappointed because, apart from the second half against England, we seldom got going today. We missed a lot of players through injury and that had a major effect on us, plus we gave debuts to Ryan Nell, Jamba Ulengo and Clayton Blommetjies,” said Treu.
Stephan Dippenaar also received a knock on his ankle while Okkie Kruger (hamstring) failed his fitness test.
“With Kyle and Dippies both injured we are currently without a hooker. We might have to call on Neil Powell to help us out in that department, but will confirm that in a day or so,” said Treu.
The Springbok Sevens coach added: “We now have to go back to the drawing board and it will be my job to lift them and get them in the right frame of mind for next week. We learned some hard lessons in Glasgow but I am confident we will bounce back with a much better performance at Twickenham.”
Before the weekend the Blitzbokke occupied third place on the log, but they will unfortunately slip down the table because England (through to the Cup final) and Samoa (Plate Final) managed to progress further than them.
It was not only the coach who was left disappointed by the team’s poor showing. Fans also vented their frustration on our FaceBook and Twitter pages:
JJ Harmse (Twitter)
Really Blitze? You are aware of the fact that you play for all of us?
Michelle (FaceBook)
ds nou ‘n bitter pil om te sluk!! X_X (sic)
After @Glasgow7s posted this:
“Nice touch from South Africa too – off to meet the party stand gang…”
Michelle (FaceBook) responded:
Have a few shots on the rest of the fans PLZ! I would rather not have watched that game.
Another huge disappointed fan, Henry, took the time to e-mail BlitzBokke.com:
I’ve been one of the most fanatic fans of the Blitzbokke. After the Glasgow tournament I will never get up early again. Their performance is an absolute disgrace. Seems like the new facalties (sic) in Stellenbosch must be given to a school. After that was opened the team is doing worse.
Hope that within the next 10 years it will go better with them.
Finally, commentator Scott Hastings summed it up when he commented:
“We might be seeing the changing of the guard here”
A stunned South Africa tries to re-group after their 47 – 0 loss to Samoa (Pic: Lynne Keeling)
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07/05/2012 at 5:29 PM
So we’re disappointed. Paul said it and I’m sure so is the whole team and management.
It was a bad year for our Blitsbokke. Injuries started early on (in Australia in November 2011) and that made a huge difference in the continuity, experience and I would imagine, game plan of the coaching team.
Do we really know what goes on behind the scenes? What is SA Rugby doing to support the Blitsbokke? Nothing compared to how the Kiwi’s view the game, or Samoa or Fiji and let’s not forget Russia – the Russian Government got involved because they smell a possible medal at the Olympics in Rio.
I’ve seen our guys train, I’ve seen them put their bodies on the line in practice sessions where the commitment shown was do or die. Relatively small guys like Steven Hunt, Bronco du Preez and Mark Richards would hit Boom and Frankie with such ferocity they had to put in a lot of effort not to fall over, while the youngsters were being held back (or at least they tried to) by Kyle Brown and Chris dry, digging in their heels and holding on for dear life to the ties around the players’ bodies.
I’m in awe of our Blitsbokke. They will die for their country and they go out to win every time. Reality is -and I for one hate reality- that we can’t always win. There are so many factors we don’t notice or always take into account. In 7 (OK 14) minutes many things can go wrong or right. The bounce of a ball, a dodgy referee decision, a slip, a kick or unfortunately on most occasions injuries.
JJ. You know they know they play for all of us. Sometimes it’s just a bit more difficult. Most of the time they give us what we want, but sadly our memories are short when our boys are on the losing side. That’s a South African thing, which no one understands better than the Rugby coaches in South Africa. Especially Paul True. And you know what? He takes it on the chin. He doesn’t look for the obvious excuses, blames the team or the ref or the weather or the fact that, in MY opinion, he doesn’t get the necessary support from SA Rugby.
Henry, my namesake. Sleep tight next time or swallow your disappointment as you’re not alone. We all hate the smug look on the faces of Gordon Titchens and DJ Forbes and those purple clad English boys with their South African imports. But when our boys wipe their smiles off their faces when it counts, I hope you will write a different message.
We have the World Cup to win in Moscow next year and a gold medal in 2016. It’s time to stop whinging, get behind Paul, Seb, Hugh, Allan and our boys and help wipe the smiles off the faces of those we dislike so much.
Go Blitsbokke!! Twickenham is the first step to Olympic Gold!
Groete uit die woestyn en van al die Arabiere
H of Arabia
07/05/2012 at 8:22 PM
Wel daar is 23 spelers in die oefengroep wat al meer as ‘n jaar saam oefen. Hoekom dan jong onervare spelers ‘n week voor die tyd oproep wat nie die game-plan vir maande en maande geoefen het nie, as jy goed genoeg spelers het om van te kies? Laat mens maar net wonder.
07/05/2012 at 8:24 PM
I’m positive this team will bounce back, They almost beat England who made it to the finals, so Im not losing hope in them. Take a look at Australia who battled in the beginning of this series because they had new young players, and look how they have developed as a dynamic team. I dont believe any new player can learn the game in two weeks, look at Cecil it took him 3 years to develop into the dynamic player he is. You supporters are the losers, just motivate and encourage the coach if anything and we will come out on top.
08/05/2012 at 5:09 AM
We are proud of he Blitzies, go on, make us more proud. We were at the tournament, I and my family watching very proudly. Yes, you lost and we wanted them to win. Pick yourselves up for we know we can continue to support us as the Heroes of a nation, South Africa. You are down but not out. Thanks for presenting our nation with the pride in which you are doing it. Many of the critics should step for a bit into your shoes and see what they can come up with. Thanks Mr Treu, you are doing a great job. Go, bokke go blitz them in London!
13/05/2012 at 10:25 PM
Bad decision making cost the Blitz Bokke their game against Newzealand. Then they also could’nt close the game agfainst England. Paul Treu and his staff got a lot of work before we can ever go and play in the Olympics in the future.