Preview: Battling Blitzboks ready to take flight in Vancouver

Head coach Sandile Ngcobo said the Blitzboks will run out at BC Place with a clear vision and well prepared for their Canada Sevens opener against New Zealand on Friday.

And for Impi Visser, who is running out in his 35th world series tournament, it will be a special moment. The Blitzboks have an internal code of achievements and getting to the 35-tournament mark is one of them.

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IMPLEMENTATION AND EXECUTION KEY FOR SOUTH AFRICA

The Blitzboks tackle the reigning Sevens Series champions in Pool A at 11:52pm and for Ngcobo, it is all about implementation of their plans laid out for the Kiwis and Great Britain, who they face at 4:56am on Saturday.

“The work is done and it is now over to the effort on the field,” said the Blitzboks boss.

“I am pleased with the way our preparations went, we did some good work since we arrived here and literally the only thing left is our kickers to go and kick on the stadium surface. The rest of the work is done and that went well, as was the [bulk of the] work done in Stellenbosch.”

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Ngcobo reckons the artificial surface – the first time teams will encounter this in the 2024 series – will be a benefit to the Blitzboks.

“It is going to be fast and we selected a fast team. We have such a versatile group here and playing a fast game is something we can do,” said Ngcobo, adding that he was comfortable with the Blitzboks’ ability with ball in hand and that tweaks made on defence, where they want to turn over possession.

“We finished well in Perth by beating France and this pool is going to demand similiar efforts. The focus is there, it is now about going out and implementing.”

“It is pretty humbling for me, knowing how special this is in our team and what great players before me achieved this too,” Visser added. “But I am not putting extra pressure on myself, I have a job to do and will be out there doing it to the best of my ability.”

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Visser missed out on Perth due to a neck strain, and he is keen to add to their effort again.

“We saw what happened in Dubai when we played as a unit and then a week later when we became more individualistic, things fell apart in Cape Town,” he said.

“Perth was much better again, but we just came up short against Fiji in a game that determined our tournament. This weekend is will be about implementation and if we do that well, the results will come.”

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BLITZBOKS GROUPED IN POOL OF DEATH

A: Argentina, Canada, Fiji, Spain
B: Australia, France, Samoa, USA
C: Blitzboks, New Zealand, Ireland, Great Britain