The Blitzboks will have no shortage of motivation come Friday when the Rugby World Cup Sevens (RWC7s) kicks off at the Cape Town Stadium. They will have the home crowd backing them and want nothing less than to give coach Neil Powell a deserved send-off.
The Blitzboks still have to pop their RWC7s cherry. The last time they even came close to winning the tournament was back in 1997.
It was a legendary Blitzbok outfit that accomplished this feat. The team boasted the likes of Bobby Skinstad, Breyton Paulse, and Joost van der Westhuizen who captained the side. The team had a fantastic campaign but ultimately came up short in the final, where they lost 21-24 to Fiji.
Four consecutive fifth-place finishes followed that second-place finish. They did manage a third-place finish in the last edition of the event in San Francisco in 2018, but they would want nothing less than first-place this weekend.
There also seems to be a monkey on the Blitzboks’ back, as they suffer from a potential case of the jitters when playing on home soil. While the South African sevens team christened the HSBC series move from Gqeberha to the Mother City with a win, their efforts since that tournament in 2015 have ended in heartbreak.
I would like to welcome every visitor from around the world who is coming to the Mother City for the #RWC7s World Cup in Cape Town.
May you enjoy your time in our city and explore all we have to offer. I know this won’t be the last time we see you.
And good luck to @Blitzboks pic.twitter.com/IbbuzIF8Jm
— Geordin Hill-Lewis (@geordinhl) September 8, 2022
Cecil Afrika returns!
Coach Neill Powell will want to end his phenomenal run with the Blitzboks with a World Cup trophy. He tried enhancing the odds with the call-up of the South African sevens top points scorer, Cecil Afrika.
The extremely experienced 34-year-old has featured in the USA’s Major League Rugby for the San Diego Legion in the past two seasons. While some believe he might be too mature, his class can’t be discounted.
“look, he’s going to add value,” says SA Rugby Magazine contributor Dylan Jack in the recent episode of The Opinionated featured on The Honest truth.
“They say that you don’t lose any of your class, that you always carry your class through wherever you are in your career. Cecil’s always been a classy play, and even if he’s not always starting, he’s going to offer something in terms of IP, or some sort of tactical knowledge.
“We know how much Neil Powell trusts this guy. He wouldn’t have recalled him if he didn’t think he was (going to add value).”
Listen to Dylan, Martin Myers and Ziaan Siems’ predictions on the weekend, here.
The three also discussed the state of the Rugby Championship.
Read More: RWC Sevens: Road closures and MyCiti shuttle times
