sandile ngcobo
Images of Grant Pitcher/Gallo
Following their victory in Dubai last weekend, the Blitzboks will be looking to clinch the Cape Town Sevens title when the tournament kicks off on Friday.
However, local pressure adds a different dimension as the Blitzboks have not won in South Africa since 2015.
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While the self-confidence from the win in Dubai may have received a boost, head coach Sandile Ngcobo believes the reset button is just as important.
Ngcobo secured a first tournament win in only his second outing in his new role following the departure of Neil Powell, but he believes a new approach is needed for the weekend.
“Changing from a two-day tournament to a three-day tournament means you have to adapt a bit in your approach, especially from a strength and conditioning perspective,” Ngcobo said.
“The workload has to be adjusted to ensure the players are fresh, and because we have longer game days and the time between games is different, it means the mental aspect is a bit different as well,” Ngcobo said.
“We played Canada on the first day, a young team full of energy. They always go up against us. I think the last time we played them was at the Commonwealth Games, and it was a tough game. That’s exactly the kind of game we want. We need our guys to work hard and get into the tournament.”
The match kicks off at 20:03, which means the Blitzboks will have a slow start to the day.
“We’ll start with some activations early in the day to make sure the bodies are awake and then we’ll move into the traditional jersey presentation where we’ll just remind each other what the jersey and badge mean to the system. Once that’s done, I’ll start to focus on the game itself. Then Canada will be on our minds,” Ngcobo said.
The usual distractions that come with a home tournament will again be a factor, but the coach says it’s something the team wants to better manage.
“As a group we want to stay focused on rugby for as long as possible, but the players have family and friends in the stands, and there are longer periods between matches, so it’s a challenge to stay in that zone. But we’re here to win.” a tournament, so once we’re in battle mode, we’ll stay in that moment as long as possible.”
The South Africans top Group A, with France, Fiji and Canada.
Cape Town Sevens Men’s Pools:
Group A: South AfricaFrance, Fiji, Canada
Group B: Ireland, Samoa, Uruguay, Japan
Group C: New Zealand, Argentina, Kenya, Spain
Group D: USA, Australia, Great Britain, Uganda
