South Africa beat New Zealand to retain Dubai Sevens title

Matt Jones - Editor 22:23 02/12/2017
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  • At around the same time as 15s rugby was plunging further into the abyss, South Africa’s sevens side was asserting itself as the new, true power of the game’s shortened format.

    As the Springboks ended their autumn series on a low note in defeat to Wales in Cardiff, the Blitzbokke were blasting away the old guard of New Zealand in the Dubai Rugby Sevens final.

    A 24-12 victory was far from commanding and New Zealand began their 2017/18 campaign with something they never attained last season – an appearance in a final.

    But Neil Powell’s green army are well and truly on the march. And the head coach admits he wants his side to emulate what the All Blacks Sevens, the dominant force of sevens over the years, have achieved – even though he doubts such dominance can be repeated in the modern age.

    “Obviously it is something that we would like to do and we have positioned ourselves well now among the best teams, but it’s going to be tough to be dominant for that long like New Zealand were in the past,” said Powell after South Africa retained their Dubai title with a 24-12 win over their Southern Hemisphere rivals.

    “I don’t think you’ll get a team that dominates like New Zealand has in the past. I think you’ll get teams who will be successful for a year or two then there will be a change of the guard quite often in the future.

    “It’s always going to be a challenge. Teams up there are competitive. England, Fiji, Australia had a fantastic tournament, New Zealand are in a building phase and are just going to get better.”

    First-half tries from Rosko Specman, former World Rugby Sevens Player of the Year Seabelo Senatla and HSBC Player of the Final Kwagga Smith put the rampant Blitzboks 19-0 up against New Zealand, who were chasing their first tournament win since Vancouver in 2016.

    And they rallied in the second half, captain Scott Curry and Andrew Knewstubb got their side back into the match, but with their opponents threatening a superb comeback, Tim Agaba powered over to close the game out.

    Smith has enjoyed a 2017 campaign to remember so far. He had a breakthrough year with the Lions, superb as the South African side reached the Super Rugby final against New Zealand’s Crusaders.

    He was also named man of the match against the All Blacks in a 31-22 defeat a few weeks ago, dismantling the myth players can no longer switch between codes at the elite level.

    “He’s a phenomenal player, phenomenal in both codes and I’m pleased we can have someone like that in our system,” Smith said if the 24-year-old.

    “Hopefully we can hold onto him until the 2020 Olympics because I think a lot of clubs will be wanting to throw a bit of money at him.”

    After expressing displeasure at the way his defending HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series champions began their defence in a lacklustre 19-10 victory over invitational side Uganda, Powell praised the way his side ended the weekend.

    “I’m always worried coming into this tournament. I’m always worried about complacency from our team, but I have to give credit to the players,” said Powell, a former Blitzbokke player himself.

    “Every time they put their jersey on their backs there’s a lot of pride and they want to make that green and gold jersey one of the best brands in the world.”

    For New Zealand, they had to be content with silver, but having lost the lustre of previous years, they can be encouraged by reaching a final – last season their best placing was third, three times.

    And captain Curry said his side will take comfort from a fine showing from a side that’s not been together very long.

    “It’s exciting looking forward,” said the 29-year-old.

    “We’ve only been together a couple of months so to go and push the best team in the world, we’re pretty pleased with that.”

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