South Africa must use their crushing Dubai Sevens success as a springboard to domination of the sport, according to captain Kyle Brown.
The Blitzbokke lived up to their nickname on finals day at 7he Sevens last weekend, setting a fearsome standard. Argentina were thrashed 40-0 in the quarter-finals, HSBC Sevens World Series champions New Zealand crushed 28-0 in the last four and Australia provided little opposition in the decider as a 33-7 victory was sealed.
The competition resumes this Thursday on home territory at Port Elizabeth. Skipper Brown urged his team-mates to go “year after year” and create a dynasty.
He said: “It’s one thing you don’t want to talk about, but when we are on fire we are very, very difficult to beat. We showed that very few teams can live with us when we implement what we want to implement.
“That is what sport is all about, the imposing of your will on the opposition. No1 at the end of the season is what we are looking for. But in the long run, we are looking to be dominant.
“Dominance entails going year after year, and this not being a one-off performance. We have Port Elizabeth coming up next weekend, and unfortunately sevens is not one of those games where you can keep rolling on to steamroll everyone.
“You start again with your first game and if you don’t show up with everything, you can get put away.”
Werner Kok was the star man for last year’s beaten finalists, coming away with the Player of the Tournament award. The centre was a blur of blonde hair throughout, setting the platform with hard inside runs for the likes of Kwagga Smith and Seabelo Senatla to steal the glory.
“It was amazing to get player of the tournament, I never thought I’d get the prize,” the 21-year-old said. “I wouldn’t have done it without the guys, they were by my side and made it much easier.
“This will help us a lot and give us confidence for Port Elizabeth. We have to keep our feet on the ground and take it step-by-step.”
Smith was another man to excel on Saturday, his first-half hat-trick against the All Blacks one of the highlights.
Victory at each event has been given more significance by the fact the top four in the World Series standings at the end of the season qualify automatically for the Rio 2016 Olympics.
“To win in Dubai is great,” the Golden Lions flanker said.
“I was in the right place at the right time during the semi-final [scored hat-trick]. We all played together and played for each other.
“It is a big boost for Port Elizabeth. But we must be humble and keep our feet on the ground.
“The Olympics is one of my goals to reach. We can build to a nice HSBC Series from here.”
