The South Africa Sevens team arrived in Australia for the Sydney leg of the World Rugby Sevens Series that begins on Saturday.
The Blitzboks, who finished fourth in New Zealand this past weekend, will be looking for massive improvements despite the recent loss of experienced players.
The Blitzboks held a training session in the scorching heat at Sydney’s Olympic Stadium on Monday.
For the first time in a long time, the current World Series champions find themselves some way off the pace following a string of disappointing performances by their own loft standards.
Veteran Branco du Preez believes a few minor adjustments could be all they need to re-establish their form.
“I think we just have to stick to the things we want to achieve, especially when we start the new week in Australia. We just have to focus on the things we want to improve on and the things that happened last weekend we must leave and just focus on the positive things. No game is a perfect game so we just have to focus on the small things we want to do right. I must say, we didn’t play bad rugby. We actually played some good rugby,” says du Preez.
Coach Neil Powell is in the process of broadening the team’s experience base.
The relatively new Zain Davids started ahead of captain Phillip Snyman in Hamilton last week, what might be seen as a passing of the baton.
“It’s a huge honour because it shows how much the coach and captain have the trust in me to stand in Phillip’s boot and I can’t disappoint them. It’s just a great trust they have in me as a player,” says Davids.
